Lao PDR: Current account balance (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Lao PDR's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 7.9 percentage points on 2024 (from 3.17% to 11.07%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.45 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.67 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 12.14 percentage points in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.7 percentage points in 1994. 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 1.98 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 83% 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 13.59% 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 5.35%, against 8.57% 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, Lao PDR had the 11th highest value of the 135 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 Lao PDR in the 2025 ranking

• Norway — 7th of 135: 14.09%
• Denmark — 8th of 135: 12.6%
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 9th of 135: 12.25%
• Nepal — 11th of 135: 10.67%
• Ghana — 12th of 135: 8.22%
• Netherlands — 13th of 135: 7.58%

What this measures

Balance of current transactions (transactions in goods and services, earned income and transfer income) between residents and non-residents. The term current account balance is used in the external accounts and is expressed from the perspective of resident units. The term current external balance is used in the national accounts and is expressed from the perspective of the non-resident units, and therefore with the opposite sign. 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 42 values

Current account balance (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Australia — -2.77% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 18.01% (2025)
• Cambodia — -3.72% (2025)
• China — 3.77% (2025)
• Fiji — -7.78% (2024)
• French Polynesia — 7.49% (2016)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 12.25% (2025)
• Indonesia — -0.09% (2025)
• Japan — 4.86% (2025)
• Kiribati — -15.23% (2025)
• Korea, Rep.

More economic policy & debt data for Lao PDR

• Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$347.91 million (2023)
• Technical cooperation grants (BoP, current US$) — US$90.18 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Japan (current US$) — US$41.74 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Total (current US$) — US$435.39 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$) — US$514.84 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (constant 2023 US$) — US$514.84 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (current US$) — US$514.84 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (constant 2023 US$)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Lao PDR's current account balance (% of GDP)?

11.07% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1984?

It is up 17.99 percentage points from -6.91% in 1984. The highest value was 11.07% in 2025 and the lowest -15.72% in 2015.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BN.CAB.XOKA.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, 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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