Rwanda's current account balance (% of GDP) was -11.96% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 0.47 percentage points from -11.5% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | -11.96% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | -11.7% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | -11.5% | 2014 |
| Highest | -6.59% | 2010 |
| Lowest | -15.48% | 2016 |
| Average since 2015 | -11.43% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | -6.59% | 2010 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Rwanda's current account balance (% of GDP) fell 0.84 percentage points on 2023 (from -11.12% to -11.96%).
Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was −0.35 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.6 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below 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 5.93 percentage points in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.91 percentage points in 2014. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 15% 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 2024, Rwanda had the 26th highest value of the 30 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 Rwanda in the 2024 ranking
- Guinea-Bissau — 23rd of 30: -7.36%
- Fiji — 24th of 30: -7.78%
- Mauritania — 25th of 30: -9.55%
- Namibia — 27th of 30: -13.41%
- Sierra Leone — 28th of 30: -14.12%
- Bhutan — 29th of 30: -19.4%
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 15 values
| Year | Current account balance (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | -11.96 |
| 2023 | -11.12 |
| 2022 | -9.07 |
| 2021 | -10.75 |
| 2020 | -11.71 |
| 2019 | -11.7 |
| 2018 | -10.1 |
| 2017 | -9.55 |
| 2016 | -15.48 |
| 2015 | -12.83 |
| 2014 |
Current account balance (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- Angola — 0.34% (2025)
- Benin — -8.18% (2023)
- Botswana — 2.93% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — -3.97% (2024)
- Burundi — -13.71% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 3.56% (2025)
- Cameroon — -3.28% (2024)
- Comoros — -1.68% (2023)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — -4.33% (2025)
- Congo, Rep. — 11.57% (2021)
- Côte d'Ivoire
More economic policy & debt data for Rwanda
- General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$2.47 billion (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 3.52 trillion (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) — US$2.46 billion (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (constant LCU) — 3.28 trillion (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) — 15.06% (2025)
- Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$10.54 billion (2025)
- Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 15.06 trillion (2025)
- Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Rwanda's current account balance (% of GDP)?
- -11.96% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2010?
- It is down 5.37 percentage points from -6.59% in 2010. The highest value was -6.59% in 2010 and the lowest -15.48% in 2016.
- How does Rwanda rank?
- 26th highest of 30 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in current account balance (% of GDP) unusual for Rwanda?
- In 2024, Rwanda's current account balance (% of GDP) fell 0.84 percentage points on 2023 (from -11.12% to -11.96%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was −0.35 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.6 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below 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 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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