South Sudan: Current account balance (% of GDP)

Key figures

Over five years it is up 16.97 percentage points from -9.04% in 2018. Since 2014 it is up 13.59 percentage points from -5.66% in 2014.

What the numbers say

In 2023, South Sudan's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 19.15 percentage points on 2022 (from -11.22% to 7.93%).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2015 to 2022), the average change was −0.7 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 20.07 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 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 34.92 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 30.89 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 2014 to 2023 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% 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, South Sudan had the 3rd highest value of the 12 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 South Sudan in the 2023 ranking

• Tuvalu — 1st of 12: 40.03%
• Guyana — 2nd of 12: 13.9%
• Aruba — 4th of 12: 5.19%
• Libya — 5th of 12: 4.24%
• Comoros — 6th of 12: -1.68%

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 10 values

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 South Sudan

• Adjusted savings, education expenditure (% of GNI) — 1.76% (2021)
• Adjusted savings, mineral depletion (current US$) — US$7.23 million (2021)
• Adjusted savings, carbon dioxide damage (current US$) — US$80.65 million (2021)
• Adjusted savings, energy depletion (current US$) — US$993.1 million (2021)
• Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) — US$73 million (2025)
• Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$1.62 billion (2023)
• Technical cooperation grants (BoP, current US$) — US$116.09 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Australia (current US$) — US$2.12 million (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is South Sudan's current account balance (% of GDP)?

7.93% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2014?

It is up 13.59 percentage points from -5.66% in 2014. The highest value was 8.31% in 2017 and the lowest -35.05% in 2020.

How does South Sudan rank?

3rd highest of 12 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in current account balance (% of GDP) unusual for South Sudan?

In 2023, South Sudan's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 19.15 percentage points on 2022 (from -11.22% to 7.93%). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2015 to 2022), the average change was −0.7 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 20.07 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 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 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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