Eswatini’s current account balance rose to 2.4% of GDP in 2025.

Higher is better. A surplus means the country takes in more foreign income than it sends out, which builds reserves or lets it repay foreign debt. A deficit has to be financed by borrowing or by drawing down savings, so a higher balance is better. The latest figure, for 2025, is 2.4% of GDP, up from 2.1% of GDP a year earlier, a rise of 0.29 percentage points. Since 2016 the balance has ranged from a high of 8% of GDP in 2016 to a low of −3% of GDP in 2022. The latest reading is in surplus and sits well above that low, but far below the 2016 peak.

Why it matters. A surplus of 2.4% of GDP means Eswatini is earning more foreign currency than it spends, which helps the reserves that support the lilangeni's link to the rand. For firms, this eases the supply of foreign exchange needed to pay for imported fuel, machinery and food. For the state, it lowers the pressure to borrow abroad, though the margin is thin compared with 2016.