Business & Markets · Credit to private sector · The Gambia
The Gambia’s credit to private sector rose to 9.4% of GDP in 2024.
9.4% of GDP
2024
Up 0.68 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
9.4% of GDP
What it is. This measure adds up the loans and other claims that banks and similar lenders hold on private firms and households, then divides the total by a year's economic output. It counts the stock of credit outstanding, so repayments and write-offs pull it down while new lending pushes it up. Lending to the government and informal borrowing between families or traders sit outside it, and it says nothing about who receives the loans or on what terms.
Neither way is good in itself. A higher share can mean firms and households are borrowing to invest and trade. It can also mean debt is building faster than incomes. A lower share can reflect cautious banks or weak demand for loans, and either reading depends on what the money is used for. The latest figure, for 2024, is 9.4% of GDP, up from 8.7% a year earlier, a rise of 0.68 percentage points. Since 2013 the range runs from a low of 6.1% of GDP in 2017 to a high of 10% of GDP in 2013, so the current level sits near the top of that range.
Why it matters. At 9.4% of GDP, private credit in The Gambia is small relative to the size of the economy. Many households and small firms are therefore likely to rely on their own savings, family support or informal lenders to start or expand a business. The recent rise suggests banks are lending a little more, though the level is still slightly below where it stood in 2013.
| Period | Credit to private sector · The Gambia |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 10% of GDP |
| 2014 | 8.8% of GDP |
| 2017 | 6.1% of GDP |
| 2018 | 7.1% of GDP |
| 2019 | 8.2% of GDP |
| 2020 | 8.2% of GDP |
| 2021 | 8.9% of GDP |
| 2022 | 9.6% of GDP |
| 2023 | 8.7% of GDP |
| 2024 | 9.4% of GDP |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Credit to private sector, The Gambia, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/business/private-sector-credit/gambia
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
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Working this out from the published figures…
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Methodology
Domestic credit to the private sector as a share of GDP. Unit: % of GDP.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series FS.AST.PRVT.GD.ZS), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.