Least developed countries: UN classification: Gross capital formation (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Least developed countries: UN classification's gross capital formation (% of GDP) fell 1.11 percentage points on 2024 (from 26.54% to 25.43%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.2 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.01 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below 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 1.74 percentage points in 1996 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.83 percentage points in 2020. 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 downward, about 0.24 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 33% 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

Gross capital formation includes acquisitions less disposals of produced assets for purposes of fixed capital formation, inventories or valuables. 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.

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. Data on capital formation may be estimated from direct surveys of enterprises and administrative records or based on the commodity flow method using data from production, trade, and construction activities.

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

All 32 values

Gross capital formation (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 45.27% (2025)
• Bahrain — 28.36% (2024)
• Djibouti — 1.55% (2025)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 12.89% (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 41.77% (2025)
• Iraq — 19.14% (2024)
• Israel — 24.35% (2025)
• Kuwait — 15.1% (2024)
• Lebanon — 1.44% (2024)
• Libya — 14.27% (2025)
• Malta — 18.71% (2025)

More economic policy & debt data for Least developed countries: UN classification

• GDP (current US$) — US$1.65 trillion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$1,362 (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$1.35 trillion (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$1,112 (2025)
• GDP (annual % growth) — 4.3% (2025)
• GDP per capita (annual % growth) — 1.94% (2025)
• Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) — US$44.93 billion (2025)
• Portfolio equity, net inflows (BoP, current US$) — −US$9.99 million (2025)

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Questions people ask

What is Least developed countries: UN classification's gross capital formation (% of GDP)?

25.43% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1994?

It is up 4.85 percentage points from 20.58% in 1994. The highest value was 29.7% in 2019 and the lowest 19.56% in 1995.

Is the latest change in gross capital formation (% of GDP) unusual for Least developed countries: UN classification?

In 2025, Least developed countries: UN classification's gross capital formation (% of GDP) fell 1.11 percentage points on 2024 (from 26.54% to 25.43%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.2 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.01 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.GDI.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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