South Asia (IDA & IBRD): Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, South Asia (IDA & IBRD)'s claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) rose 0.83 percentage points on 2024 (from 18.91% to 19.74%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.64 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 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 3.23 percentage points in 2009 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.41 percentage points in 2016. 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 8% 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Claims on central government include loans to central government institutions net of deposits. 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.

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

All 66 values

Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — -8.32% (2020)
• Algeria — 42.42% (2025)
• Bahrain — 16.44% (2015)
• Djibouti — 6.23% (2025)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 48.18% (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 8.16% (2016)
• Iraq — 7.17% (2024)
• Israel — 13.18% (2025)
• Jordan — 27.03% (2025)
• Kuwait — -16.91% (2025)

More financial sector data for South Asia (IDA & IBRD)

• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 43.52% (2025)
• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 43.53% (2025)
• Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 43.54% (2025)
• Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 3.22% (2025)
• Broad money (% of GDP) — 79.55% (2021)
• Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth) — 3.1% (2025)
• Listed domestic companies, total — 9,158 (2025)
• Stocks traded, turnover ratio of domestic shares (%) — 64% (2024)
• Interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate, %)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is South Asia (IDA & IBRD)'s claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP)?

19.74% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

It is up 4.97 percentage points from 14.77% in 1960. The highest value was 24.22% in 2013 and the lowest 10.93% in 1975.

Is the latest change in claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) unusual for South Asia (IDA & IBRD)?

In 2025, South Asia (IDA & IBRD)'s claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) rose 0.83 percentage points on 2024 (from 18.91% to 19.74%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.64 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 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 FS.AST.CGOV.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, 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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