Cuba: General government final consumption expenditure (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Cuba's general government final consumption expenditure (current US$) rose 25.1% on 2019 (from US$33.34 billion to US$41.7 billion).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2019), the average change was +4.9% and a typical year strayed about 8.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 25.7% in 1978 and the biggest yearly fall was 10.5% in 1996. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$1.59 billion a year. A straight line explains 81% 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 US$40.11 billion for 2023. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2018 to 2020 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was US$3.83 billion, against US$5.17 billion 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Final consumption expenditure is expenditure on goods and services by resident institutional units for the direct satisfaction of human needs or wants, whether individual or collective. General government FCE includes all government current expenditures for purchases of goods and services (including compensation of employees), and most expenditures on national defense and security, but excludes government military expenditures that are part of government capital formation. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.

Limitations: Because policymakers have tended to focus on fostering the growth of output, and because data on production are easier to collect than data on spending, many countries generate their primary estimate of GDP using the production approach. Moreover, many countries do not estimate all the components of national expenditures but instead derive some of the main aggregates indirectly using GDP (based on the production approach) as the control total.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 51 values

General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) in nearby economies

• Argentina — US$101.97 billion (2025)
• Aruba — US$746.48 million (2024)
• Bahamas, The — US$2.04 billion (2024)
• Belize — US$510.74 million (2024)
• Bolivia — US$9.07 billion (2024)
• Brazil — US$436.24 billion (2025)
• Chile — US$53.81 billion (2025)
• Colombia — US$70.85 billion (2025)
• Costa Rica

More economic policy & debt data for Cuba

• Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$139.62 million (2023)
• Technical cooperation grants (BoP, current US$) — US$18.29 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$) — US$167.15 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (constant 2023 US$) — US$167.15 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (current US$) — US$167.15 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (constant 2023 US$) — US$167.15 million (2023)
• Net ODA received per capita (current US$) — US$15.17 (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Total (current US$) — US$92.95 million (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is Cuba's general government final consumption expenditure (current US$)?

US$41.7 billion in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 2,213% from US$1.8 billion in 1970 (6.48% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$41.7 billion in 2020 and the lowest US$1.8 billion in 1970.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.CON.GOVT.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) 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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