Botswana: Chemicals (% of value added in manufacturing)

Key figures

Over five years it is up 0.19 percentage points from 9.92% in 2018. Since 1981 it is up 8.34 percentage points from 1.77% in 1981. The World Bank has no value for 20 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2023, Botswana's chemicals (% of value added in manufacturing) rose 0.04 percentage points on 2022 (from 10.07% to 10.11%).

Across the 18 yearly changes before that (1982 to 2022), the average change was +0.38 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.69 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below 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 3.55 percentage points in 1994 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.35 percentage points in 1993. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.23 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 62% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2023, Botswana had the 25th highest value of the 60 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Botswana in the 2023 ranking

• Brazil — 21st of 60: 11.11%
• Japan — 22nd of 60: 10.79%
• United Kingdom — 23rd of 60: 10.45%
• Azerbaijan — 25th of 60: 10.04%
• Germany — 26th of 60: 10.01%
• Kenya — 27th of 60: 9.94%

What this measures

Manufacturing of chemicals and chemical products includes industries classified in ISIC (Rev. 3) division 24. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer or an industry or an institutional sector, which is estimated by the total value of output produced and deducting the total value of intermediate consumption of goods and services used to produce that output. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of value added in manufacturing which is the contribution to the economy by the manufacturing sector (ISIC Rev. 3 major division D).

Limitations: In establishing classifications systems compilers must define both the types of activities to be described and the units whose activities are to be reported. There are many possibilities, and the choices affect how the statistics can be interpreted and how useful they are in analyzing economic behavior. The ISIC emphasizes commonalities in the production process and is explicitly not intended to measure outputs (for which there is a newly developed Central Product Classification). Nevertheless, the ISIC views an activity as defined by "a process resulting in a homogeneous set of products."

All 23 values

Chemicals (% of value added in manufacturing) in nearby economies

• Burundi — 2.79% (2015)
• Cameroon — 3.6% (2018)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 20.67% (2022)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 5.46% (2022)
• Ethiopia — 10.62% (2015)
• Ghana — 6.32% (2015)
• Kenya — 9.94% (2023)
• Malawi — 3.13% (2021)
• Namibia — 5% (2023)
• Rwanda — 7.14% (2023)

More economic policy & debt data for Botswana

• General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$6.27 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 84.72 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) — 31.48% (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$9.12 billion (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 123.17 billion (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) — 45.77% (2025)
• Final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$15.4 billion (2025)
• Final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 207.88 billion (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Botswana's chemicals (% of value added in manufacturing)?

10.11% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1981?

It is up 8.34 percentage points from 1.77% in 1981. The highest value was 11.11% in 2021 and the lowest 1.77% in 1981.

How does Botswana rank?

25th highest of 60 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in chemicals (% of value added in manufacturing) unusual for Botswana?

In 2023, Botswana's chemicals (% of value added in manufacturing) rose 0.04 percentage points on 2022 (from 10.07% to 10.11%). Across the 18 yearly changes before that (1982 to 2022), the average change was +0.38 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.69 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NV.MNF.CHEM.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) 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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