Zambia: Manufacturing, value added (annual % growth)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Zambia's manufacturing, value added (annual % growth) rose 4.8 percentage points on 2024 (from 2.33% to 7.13%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.37 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.23 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations above 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 14.57 percentage points in 1981 and the biggest yearly fall was 19.87 percentage points in 1993. 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

In 2025, Zambia had the 23rd highest value of the 136 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 Zambia in the 2025 ranking

• Azerbaijan — 20th of 136: 7.85%
• Mali — 21st of 136: 7.76%
• Uzbekistan — 22nd of 136: 7.7%
• Kazakhstan — 24th of 136: 6.4%
• Uruguay — 25th of 136: 6.25%
• Sri Lanka — 26th of 136: 6.23%

What this measures

Manufacturing includes industries classified in ISIC (Rev. 3) major division C and is defined as the physical or chemical transformation of materials or components into new products. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer or an industry or an institutional sector, which is estimated by the total value of output produced and deducting the total value of intermediate consumption of goods and services used to produce that output. This indicator denotes the percentage change over each previous year of the constant price (base year 2015) series in United States dollars.

Limitations: Ideally, industrial output should be measured through regular censuses and surveys of firms. But in most developing countries such surveys are infrequent, so earlier survey results must be extrapolated using an appropriate indicator. The choice of sampling unit, which may be the enterprise (where responses may be based on financial records) or the establishment (where production units may be recorded separately), also affects the quality of the data. Moreover, much industrial production is organized in unincorporated or owner-operated ventures that are not captured by surveys aimed at the formal sector.

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

All 60 values

Manufacturing, value added (annual % growth) in nearby economies

• Angola — 10.5% (2025)
• Benin — 8.58% (2025)
• Botswana — 1.94% (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 5.49% (2025)
• Burundi — 1.43% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 6.21% (2025)
• Cameroon — 3.13% (2025)
• Central African Republic — -10.28% (2023)
• Chad — 9.14% (2024)
• Comoros — 4.26% (2025)

More economic policy & debt data for Zambia

• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$) — US$1.19 billion (2025)
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current LCU) — 29.79 billion (2025)
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP) — 4.11% (2025)
• Manufacturing, value added (current US$) — US$2.53 billion (2025)
• Manufacturing, value added (current LCU) — 63.49 billion (2025)
• Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) — 8.75% (2025)
• Industry, including construction, value added (current US$) — US$10.2 billion (2025)
• Industry, including construction, value added (current LCU) — 256.39 billion (2025)
• Industry, including construction, value added (% of GDP)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Zambia's manufacturing, value added (annual % growth)?

7.13% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1966?

It is down 12.67 percentage points from 19.8% in 1966. The highest value was 19.8% in 1966 and the lowest -9.04% in 1977.

How does Zambia rank?

23rd highest of 136 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in manufacturing, value added (annual % growth) unusual for Zambia?

In 2025, Zambia's manufacturing, value added (annual % growth) rose 4.8 percentage points on 2024 (from 2.33% to 7.13%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.37 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.23 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NV.IND.MANF.KD.ZG, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs); National Accounts data files, Central Banks; 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.

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