Lebanon: Net acquisition of financial assets (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 12.98 percentage points in 1998 and the biggest yearly fall was 6.98 percentage points in 2006. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.3 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 43% of the movement over 8 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2024, Lebanon had the 23rd highest value of the 57 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 Lebanon in the 2024 ranking

• United Arab Emirates — 20th of 57: 1.27%
• Thailand — 21st of 57: 1.27%
• Moldova — 22nd of 57: 1.25%
• Colombia — 24th of 57: 1.1%
• Switzerland — 25th of 57: 1.02%
• Burkina Faso — 26th of 57: 0.98%

What this measures

Net acquisition of government financial assets includes domestic and foreign financial claims, SDRs, and gold bullion held by monetary authorities as a reserve asset. The net acquisition of financial assets should be offset by the net incurrence of liabilities. 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: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

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

All 26 values

Net acquisition of financial assets (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 0.75% (2017)
• Israel — 1.57% (2024)
• Morocco — 0.2% (2024)
• United Arab Emirates — 1.27% (2024)

More public sector data for Lebanon

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 828.3 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 74.02 trillion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.51% (2025)
• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 9 million (2024)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 16.63% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 80,000 (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 4.1% (2020)
• Net acquisition of financial assets (current LCU) — 28.69 trillion (2024)
• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (current LCU) — 1.13 trillion (2024)

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 Lebanon's net acquisition of financial assets (% of GDP)?

1.23% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1997?

It is up 11.4 percentage points from -10.16% in 1997. The highest value was 7.11% in 1999 and the lowest -10.16% in 1997.

How does Lebanon rank?

23rd highest of 57 economies with data for 2024.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.AST.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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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