Business & Markets · Credit to private sector · Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s credit to private sector was 6.5% of GDP in 2023.
6.5% of GDP
2023
Up 0.65 pp from 2022.
Stale — last updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
6.5% of GDP
What it is. This measure adds up the loans and similar financial claims that banks and other financial institutions hold against private firms and households, then divides the total by the size of the economy. It shows how much of national output is matched by private borrowing, which is a rough gauge of how deep the financial system is. Lending to government, funds raised through share issues and informal lending between individuals sit outside it.
Neither way is good in itself. A higher ratio means firms and households can borrow more against the size of the economy, but they also carry more debt. A lower ratio means less debt exposure and a thinner supply of finance, so the measure has no ideal direction. In 2023 the figure was 6.5% of GDP, up from 5.8% of GDP a year earlier, a rise of 0.65 percentage points. Since 2014 the range runs from a low of 3.4% of GDP in 2019 to a high of 19.2% of GDP in 2014. The latest reading sits in the lower part of that range, well below where it started.
Why it matters. At 6.5% of GDP, private borrowing is small next to the size of Zimbabwe's economy. Businesses have little bank credit to fund equipment, stock or wages between sales, and households have limited access to loans for housing or education. The small rise over the last year is a modest step back from the 2019 low, and the 2014 level of 19.2% of GDP shows how much larger the ratio has been.
| Period | Credit to private sector · Zimbabwe |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 19.2% of GDP |
| 2015 | 18.3% of GDP |
| 2016 | 17.1% of GDP |
| 2017 | 5.8% of GDP |
| 2018 | 5.8% of GDP |
| 2019 | 3.4% of GDP |
| 2020 | 3.6% of GDP |
| 2021 | 4.8% of GDP |
| 2022 | 5.8% of GDP |
| 2023 | 6.5% 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, Zimbabwe, 2023; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/business/private-sector-credit/zimbabwe
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.