Lao PDR: GDP (annual % growth)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Lao PDR's GDP (annual % growth) rose 0.41 percentage points on 2024 (from 4.13% to 4.54%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.43 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 16.2 percentage points in 1989 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.49 percentage points in 1990. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 28% 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 2025, Lao PDR had the 56th highest value of the 186 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

• Sierra Leone — 52nd of 186: 4.61%
• Morocco — 53rd of 186: 4.6%
• Costa Rica — 54th of 186: 4.56%
• Saudi Arabia — 56th of 186: 4.5%
• Central African Republic — 57th of 186: 4.5%
• Nepal — 58th of 186: 4.43%

What this measures

Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. This indicator denotes the percentage change over each previous year of the constant price (base year 2015) series in United States dollars.

Limitations: Each industry's contribution to growth in the economy's output is measured by growth in the industry's value added. In principle, value added in constant prices can be estimated by measuring the quantity of goods and services produced in a period, valuing them at an agreed set of base year prices, and subtracting the cost of intermediate inputs, also in constant prices. This double-deflation method requires detailed information on the structure of prices of inputs and outputs. In many industries, however, value added is extrapolated from the base year using single volume indexes of outputs or, less commonly, inputs.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 41 values

GDP (annual % growth) in nearby economies

• American Samoa — 1.74% (2022)
• Australia — 1.35% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 0.67% (2025)
• Cambodia — 5.35% (2025)
• China — 4.96% (2025)
• Fiji — 3.2% (2025)
• French Polynesia — 1.13% (2024)
• Guam — 5.1% (2022)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 3.49% (2025)
• Indonesia — 5.11% (2025)
• Japan — 1.19% (2025)
• Kiribati

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
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Questions people ask

What is Lao PDR's GDP (annual % growth)?

4.54% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1985?

It is down 0.53 percentage points from 5.07% in 1985. The highest value was 14.19% in 1989 and the lowest -2.01% in 1988.

How does Lao PDR rank?

56th highest of 186 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in GDP (annual % growth) unusual for Lao PDR?

In 2025, Lao PDR's GDP (annual % growth) rose 0.41 percentage points on 2024 (from 4.13% to 4.54%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.43 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG, 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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