Sub-Saharan Africa: Bank liquid reserves to bank assets ratio (%)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Sub-Saharan Africa's bank liquid reserves to bank assets ratio (%) rose 0.55 percentage points on 2024 (from 15.47% to 16.02%).

Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2002 to 2024), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.26 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 2.41 percentage points in 2013 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.38 percentage points in 2022. 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 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.33 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 51% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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

Ratio of bank liquid reserves to bank assets is the ratio of domestic currency holdings and deposits with the monetary authorities to claims on other governments, nonfinancial public enterprises, the private sector, and other banking institutions. This indicator is expressed as a percentage (a÷b)*100.

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

All 25 values

Bank liquid reserves to bank assets ratio (%) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 86.89% (2020)
• Algeria — 20.1% (2025)
• Djibouti — 15.33% (2025)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 14.37% (2025)
• Iraq — 53.76% (2024)
• Israel — 21.96% (2025)
• Jordan — 22.56% (2025)
• Kuwait — 6.06% (2025)
• Libya — 315.45% (2025)
• Morocco — 3.5% (2025)

More financial sector data for Sub-Saharan Africa

• Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 4.11% (2025)
• Broad money (% of GDP) — 42.61% (2025)
• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 24.72% (2023)
• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 24.81% (2023)
• Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) — 12.89% (2023)
• Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 31.68% (2023)
• Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth) — 3.4% (2025)
• Stocks traded, turnover ratio of domestic shares (%) — 23.73% (2024)
• Commercial bank branches (per 100,000 adults)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Sub-Saharan Africa's bank liquid reserves to bank assets ratio (%)?

16.02% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2001?

It is down 0.41 percentage points from 16.43% in 2001. The highest value was 20.6% in 2013 and the lowest 15.47% in 2024.

Is the latest change in bank liquid reserves to bank assets ratio (%) unusual for Sub-Saharan Africa?

In 2025, Sub-Saharan Africa's bank liquid reserves to bank assets ratio (%) rose 0.55 percentage points on 2024 (from 15.47% to 16.02%). Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2002 to 2024), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.26 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.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FD.RES.LIQU.AS.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, 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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