Business & Markets · Credit to private sector · São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe’s credit to private sector was 7.8% of GDP in 2023.
7.8% of GDP
2023
Down 5 pp from 2022.
Stale — last updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
7.8% of GDP
What it is. This measure adds up the loans and similar financial claims that banks and other domestic financial institutions hold against households and private firms, then divides by the size of the economy. Because it is a share of GDP, it can fall when lending shrinks or when the economy grows faster than loans do. It covers formal domestic lending only, so informal borrowing between families or traders and money firms raise abroad do not appear in it.
Neither way is good in itself. A higher share can mean households and businesses have wider access to finance, or that debt is building up faster than incomes. A lower share can mean banks are cautious and borrowers are shut out, or that demand for loans is weak. The latest figure, for 2023, is 7.8% of GDP, down 5 percentage points from 12.9% of GDP a year earlier. That is the lowest level since 2014 and far below the high of 33.3% of GDP reached in 2015.
Why it matters. At 7.8% of GDP, private lending in São Tomé and Príncipe is small relative to the economy. Households and small firms have little formal credit for investment, stock or working capital, so many rely on their own savings or informal sources. The drop from 33.3% of GDP in 2015 shows how far formal lending has shrunk, and the next annual figure will show whether the fall continues.
| Period | Credit to private sector · São Tomé and Príncipe |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 32.7% of GDP |
| 2015 | 33.3% of GDP |
| 2016 | 31.5% of GDP |
| 2017 | 29.4% of GDP |
| 2018 | 24.8% of GDP |
| 2019 | 22.5% of GDP |
| 2020 | 19.9% of GDP |
| 2021 | 17.7% of GDP |
| 2022 | 12.9% of GDP |
| 2023 | 7.8% 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, São Tomé and Príncipe, 2023; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/business/private-sector-credit/sao-tome-and-principe
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
What this means
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.