Faroe Islands: Gross national expenditure (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Faroe Islands' gross national expenditure (% of GDP) fell 2.31 percentage points on 2023 (from 98.95% to 96.64%).

Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1999 to 2023), the average change was +0.03 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.01 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 14.22 percentage points in 2003 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.86 percentage points in 2013. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 5% 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

In 2024, Faroe Islands had the 27th highest value of the 37 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 Faroe Islands in the 2024 ranking

• Eswatini — 24th of 37: 99.97%
• Ghana — 25th of 37: 97.68%
• China — 26th of 37: 97.16%
• Panama — 28th of 37: 94.96%
• Aruba — 29th of 37: 92.79%
• Kazakhstan — 30th of 37: 90.28%

What this measures

Gross national expenditure is the sum of household final consumption expenditure, general government final consumption expenditure, and gross capital formation. 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.

All 27 values

Gross national expenditure (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Albania — 106.89% (2024)
• Armenia — 105.51% (2025)
• Austria — 97.41% (2025)
• Azerbaijan — 93.79% (2025)
• Belarus — 101.6% (2025)
• Belgium — 102.02% (2025)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 118.4% (2025)
• Bulgaria — 101.04% (2025)
• Croatia — 105.04% (2025)
• Cyprus — 94.35% (2025)
• Czechia

More economic policy & debt data for Faroe Islands

• Exports of goods and services (current LCU) — 15.24 billion (2024)
• Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) — 54.56% (2024)
• Imports of goods and services (current LCU) — 14.31 billion (2024)
• Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) — 51.2% (2024)
• External balance on goods and services (current LCU) — 938.8 million (2024)
• External balance on goods and services (% of GDP) — 3.36% (2024)
• Trade (% of GDP) — 105.75% (2024)
• GDP (current LCU) — 27.94 billion (2024)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 511,400 (2024)
• Exports of goods and services (current US$)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Faroe Islands's gross national expenditure (% of GDP)?

96.64% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1998?

It is down 1.67 percentage points from 98.31% in 1998. The highest value was 116.87% in 2005 and the lowest 94.51% in 2017.

How does Faroe Islands rank?

27th highest of 37 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in gross national expenditure (% of GDP) unusual for Faroe Islands?

In 2024, Faroe Islands' gross national expenditure (% of GDP) fell 2.31 percentage points on 2023 (from 98.95% to 96.64%). Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1999 to 2023), the average change was +0.03 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.01 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 NE.DAB.TOTL.ZS, 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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