World: Gross fixed capital formation (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, World's gross fixed capital formation (% of GDP) fell 0.37 percentage points on 2023 (from 25.98% to 25.62%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.32 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.71 percentage points in 1988 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.76 percentage points in 2009. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.09 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 49% 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.

What this measures

Gross fixed capital formation includes acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets during the accounting period, including certain specified expenditures on services that add to the value of non-produced assets. 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 55 values

Gross fixed capital formation (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 39.4% (2025)
• Bahrain — 28.88% (2024)
• Djibouti — 25.46% (2025)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 11.71% (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 28.8% (2025)
• Iraq — 14.36% (2024)
• Israel — 23.8% (2025)
• Kuwait — 16.75% (2024)
• Lebanon — 1.44% (2024)
• Libya — 14.27% (2025)
• Malta

More economic policy & debt data for World

• Charges for the use of intellectual property, payments (BoP, current US$) — US$753.95 billion (2025)
• Portfolio equity, net inflows (BoP, current US$) — US$1.88 trillion (2025)
• GDP (current US$) — US$118.35 trillion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$99.66 trillion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$14,406 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$12,131 (2025)
• GNI (current US$) — US$117.7 trillion (2025)
• GDP (annual % growth) — 2.92% (2025)
• GDP per capita (annual % growth) — 1.99% (2025)
• Charges for the use of intellectual property, receipts (BoP, current US$)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is World's gross fixed capital formation (% of GDP)?

25.62% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 1.36 percentage points from 24.26% in 1970. The highest value was 26.17% in 2021 and the lowest 22.91% in 2002.

Is the latest change in gross fixed capital formation (% of GDP) unusual for World?

In 2024, World's gross fixed capital formation (% of GDP) fell 0.37 percentage points on 2023 (from 25.98% to 25.62%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.32 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.GDI.FTOT.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) 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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.