Business & Markets · Lending interest rate · Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s lending interest rate fell to 46.4% in 2025.
46.4%
2025
Down 22.5 pp from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
46.4%
What it is. The lending interest rate is the price banks charge private borrowers for short and medium term loans. It is an average of the rates quoted on those loans, so a borrower with weak collateral or a shaky record can pay well above it. Fees, charges and credit from outside the banking system sit outside the figure.
Neither way is good in itself. A high rate pays lenders for inflation and risk, and a low rate makes loans cheaper for borrowers, so which suits the economy depends on how fast prices are rising. The latest figure is 46.4% in January 2025, down from 68.9% a year earlier, a fall of 22.5 percentage points. Since 2016 the series has ranged from a low of 6.9% in January 2017 to a high of 170.3% in January 2023. Today's level sits far above the 2017 low and far below the 2023 peak.
Why it matters. At 46.4%, a loan is expensive for Zimbabwean households and firms. A business borrowing to buy stock or equipment needs very high returns to cover the interest, so bank credit suits only the most profitable activities. The fall since January 2024 eases that burden, though borrowing costs remain a heavy charge on investment.
| Period | Lending interest rate · Zimbabwe |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 7.1% |
| 2017 | 6.9% |
| 2018 | 7.1% |
| 2019 | 16.2% |
| 2020 | 33% |
| 2021 | 45.5% |
| 2022 | 131.8% |
| 2023 | 170.3% |
| 2024 | 68.9% |
| 2025 | 46.4% |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Lending interest rate, Zimbabwe, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/business/lending-rate/zimbabwe
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
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Methodology
Bank rate that usually meets the short- and medium-term financing needs of the private sector. Unit: %.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series FR.INR.LEND), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.