Botswana's claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) was 17.38% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 43.32 percentage points from -25.94% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 17.38% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 5.24% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | -25.94% | 2015 |
| Highest | 17.38% | 2025 |
| Lowest | -93.78% | 1998 |
| Average since 2016 | 0.56% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | -12.42% | 1976 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Botswana's claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) rose 4.36 percentage points on 2024 (from 13.02% to 17.38%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +2.39 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 12.63 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 39.09 percentage points in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 39.07 percentage points in 1997. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 3.71 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 94% 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.
A straight-line projection, tested first
Extending that straight line gives about 30.27% for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 1.39%, against 9.37% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.
See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.
How it compares
In 2025, Botswana had the 38th highest value of the 106 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Botswana | 17.38% | 2025 |
| World | 39.8% | 2024 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 12.89% | 2023 |
| Upper middle income | 37.82% | 2024 |
Closest to Botswana in the 2025 ranking
- Sierra Leone — 34th of 106: 19.17%
- Namibia — 35th of 106: 18.15%
- Malaysia — 36th of 106: 17.58%
- Zambia — 38th of 106: 17.06%
- West Bank and Gaza — 39th of 106: 16.76%
- Belize — 40th of 106: 16.75%
What this measures
Claims on central government include loans to central government institutions net of deposits. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 50 values
| Year | Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 17.38 |
| 2024 | 13.02 |
| 2023 | 7.32 |
| 2022 | 3.2 |
| 2021 | 5.72 |
| 2020 | 5.24 |
| 2019 | -5.41 |
| 2018 | -10.42 |
| 2017 | -12.55 |
| 2016 | -17.92 |
| 2015 |
Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- Angola — 7.84% (2025)
- Benin — 1.94% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 6.48% (2025)
- Burundi — 23.01% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 8.46% (2025)
- Cameroon — 3.69% (2019)
- Central African Republic — 25.54% (2022)
- Chad — 12.63% (2021)
- Comoros — 4.16% (2024)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 1.46% (2023)
More financial sector data for Botswana
- GDP deflator (base year varies by country) — 136.44 (2025)
- DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$) — US$13.5 (2025)
- Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) — US$13.5 (2025)
- Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 3.63% (2025)
- Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 33.12% (2025)
- Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 33.23% (2025)
- Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 33.23% (2025)
- Consumer price index (2010 = 100) — 202.64 (2025)
- Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth) — 2.66% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Botswana's claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP)?
- 17.38% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1976?
- It is up 29.8 percentage points from -12.42% in 1976. The highest value was 17.38% in 2025 and the lowest -93.78% in 1998.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FS.AST.CGOV.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Development Indicators Database, World Bank (WB); National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 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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