Arab World's interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate, %) was 4.85% in 2015, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is unchanged since 2005.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 4.85% | 2015 |
| Five years earlier | 5.33% | 2010 |
| Ten years earlier | 4.85% | 2005 |
| Highest | 5.65% | 2004 |
| Lowest | 4.02% | 1999 |
| Average since 2006 | 4.95% | 2006–2015 |
| First recorded | 4.02% | 1999 |
What the numbers say
In 2015, Arab World's interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate, %) rose 0.06 percentage points on 2014 (from 4.79% to 4.85%).
Across the 15 yearly changes before that (2000 to 2014), the average change was +0.05 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.54 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1 percentage points in 2008 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.8 percentage points in 2005. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2006 to 2015 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
See how every economy compares in the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Arab World | 4.85% | 2015 |
| World | 5.98% | 2019 |
What this measures
Interest rate spread is the interest rate charged by banks on loans to private sector customers minus the interest rate paid by commercial or similar banks for demand, time, or savings deposits. The terms and conditions attached to these rates differ by country, however, limiting their comparability.
Limitations: Countries use a variety of reporting formats, sample designs, interest compounding formulas, averaging methods, and data presentations for indices and other data series on interest rates. The IMF's Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual does not provide guidelines beyond the general recommendation that such data should reflect market prices and effective (rather than nominal) interest rates and should be representative of the financial assets and markets to be covered. For more information, please see http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/mfs/manual/index.htm.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.
All 17 values
| Year | Interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate, %) |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 4.85 |
| 2014 | 4.79 |
| 2013 | 4.74 |
| 2012 | 4.98 |
| 2011 | 5.16 |
| 2010 | 5.33 |
| 2009 | 5.63 |
| 2008 | 5.37 |
| 2007 | 4.37 |
| 2006 | 4.3 |
| 2005 |
Interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate, %) in nearby economies
- Algeria — 6.25% (2025)
- Bahrain — 4.17% (2015)
- Egypt, Arab Rep. — 5.13% (2024)
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 5.2% (2016)
- Iraq — 7.44% (2015)
- Israel — 2.52% (2022)
- Jordan — 2.62% (2025)
- Kuwait — 2.41% (2025)
- Lebanon — 0.82% (2019)
More financial sector data for Arab World
- Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 2.7% (2025)
- Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 53.98% (2025)
- Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) — 15.68% (2018)
- Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 51.74% (2017)
- Broad money (% of GDP) — 80.73% (2017)
- Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 53.31% (2017)
- Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth) — 1.77% (2025)
- Stocks traded, turnover ratio of domestic shares (%) — 22.53% (2024)
- Bank liquid reserves to bank assets ratio (%) — 10.98% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Arab World's interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate, %)?
- 4.85% in 2015, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1999?
- It is up 0.83 percentage points from 4.02% in 1999. The highest value was 5.65% in 2004 and the lowest 4.02% in 1999.
- Is the latest change in interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate, %) unusual for Arab World?
- In 2015, Arab World's interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate, %) rose 0.06 percentage points on 2014 (from 4.79% to 4.85%). Across the 15 yearly changes before that (2000 to 2014), the average change was +0.05 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.54 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
- Where does this data come from?
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FR.INR.LNDP, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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