Zambia: Trade (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Zambia's trade (% of GDP) fell 15.71 percentage points on 2023 (from 78.24% to 62.53%).

Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2023), the average change was +0.4 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.61 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 11.78 percentage points in 2010 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.91 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 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 6% 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 2024, Zambia had the 26th highest value of the 33 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 2024 ranking

• Vanuatu — 22nd of 33: 73.38%
• Ghana — 23rd of 33: 68.97%
• French Polynesia — 24th of 33: 64.47%
• Tajikistan — 26th of 33: 59.09%
• Kazakhstan — 27th of 33: 57.16%
• New Zealand — 28th of 33: 50.66%

What this measures

Trade is the sum of exports and imports of goods and services. 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 31 values

Trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Angola — 34.65% (2025)
• Benin — 37.12% (2025)
• Botswana — 69.54% (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 65% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 95.33% (2025)
• Cameroon — 33.38% (2025)
• Central African Republic — 52.91% (2025)
• Chad — 46.13% (2025)
• Comoros — 40.89% (2025)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 87.33% (2025)
• Congo, Rep. — 91.67% (2025)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 54.56% (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 trade (% of GDP)?

62.53% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1994?

It is down 4.12 percentage points from 66.65% in 1994. The highest value was 86.21% in 2021 and the lowest 56.12% in 2009.

How does Zambia rank?

26th highest of 33 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in trade (% of GDP) unusual for Zambia?

In 2024, Zambia's trade (% of GDP) fell 15.71 percentage points on 2023 (from 78.24% to 62.53%). Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2023), the average change was +0.4 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.61 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.TRD.GNFS.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.

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