Madagascar: Goods and services expense (% of expense)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Madagascar's goods and services expense (% of expense) fell 0.5 percentage points on 2022 (from 7.06% to 6.56%).

Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2022), the average change was −0.71 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.01 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 2.8 percentage points in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.28 percentage points in 2004. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 17% 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 2023, Madagascar had the 70th highest value of the 79 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 Madagascar in the 2023 ranking

• France — 67th of 79: 6.85%
• Austria — 68th of 79: 6.63%
• Netherlands — 69th of 79: 6.61%
• United States — 71st of 79: 6.49%
• Lithuania — 72nd of 79: 6.43%
• Sri Lanka — 73rd of 79: 6.03%

What this measures

Goods and services include all government payments in exchange for goods and services used for the production of market and nonmarket goods and services. Use of goods and services for own account capital formation is excluded. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.

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 median.

All 20 values

Goods and services expense (% of expense) in nearby economies

• Angola — 29.36% (2019)
• Botswana — 28.41% (2023)
• Burkina Faso — 9.69% (2023)
• Burundi — 17.8% (2021)
• Cabo Verde — 20.46% (2020)
• Cameroon — 33.62% (2021)
• Central African Republic — 31.7% (2021)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 27.48% (2022)
• Congo, Rep. — 27.07% (2021)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 16.21% (2023)

More public sector data for Madagascar

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 119.68 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 542.69 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 0.62% (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 3.8% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 22,000 (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 0.15% (2020)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 2.24 trillion (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 19.46% (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) — 9.73 trillion (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Madagascar's goods and services expense (% of expense)?

6.56% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2003?

It is down 13.03 percentage points from 19.59% in 2003. The highest value was 19.59% in 2003 and the lowest 5.6% in 2013.

How does Madagascar rank?

70th highest of 79 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in goods and services expense (% of expense) unusual for Madagascar?

In 2023, Madagascar's goods and services expense (% of expense) fell 0.5 percentage points on 2022 (from 7.06% to 6.56%). Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2022), the average change was −0.71 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.01 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 GC.XPN.GSRV.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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