Iran, Islamic Rep.: Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2016, Iran, Islamic Rep.'s claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) rose 2.38 percentage points on 2015 (from 5.79% to 8.16%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1983 to 2015), the average change was −1.5 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.04 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 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 16.74 percentage points in 1980 and the biggest yearly fall was 13.16 percentage points in 1974. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2007 to 2016 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.26 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 88% 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

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 54 values

Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — -8.32% (2020)
• Algeria — 42.42% (2025)
• Bahrain — 16.44% (2015)
• Djibouti — 6.23% (2025)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 48.18% (2025)
• Iraq — 7.17% (2024)
• Israel — 13.18% (2025)
• Jordan — 27.03% (2025)
• Kuwait — -16.91% (2025)
• Lebanon — 37.06% (2018)

More financial sector data for Iran, Islamic Rep.

• Consumer price index (2010 = 100) — 4,030 (2025)
• Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth) — 42.17% (2025)
• GDP deflator (base year varies by country) — 342.89 (2025)
• DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$) — US$742,604 (2025)
• Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 28.78% (2025)
• Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) — US$42,000 (2023)
• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 57.83% (2016)
• Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 57.83% (2016)
• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Iran, Islamic Rep.'s claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP)?

8.16% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

It is up 0.44 percentage points from 7.72% in 1960. The highest value was 44.5% in 1988 and the lowest -4.77% in 1975.

Is the latest change in claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) unusual for Iran, Islamic Rep.?

In 2016, Iran, Islamic Rep.'s claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) rose 2.38 percentage points on 2015 (from 5.79% to 8.16%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1983 to 2015), the average change was −1.5 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.04 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations above 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 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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