The Gambia’s current account balance rose to −2.9% of GDP in 2025.

Higher is better. A higher balance is better because a smaller deficit, or a surplus, means the country needs less foreign financing to pay for what it buys abroad. The latest figure, for 2025, is −2.9% of GDP, up from −4.1% of GDP a year earlier, a gain of 1.2 percentage points. Since 2016 the balance has ranged from a low of −8.1% of GDP in 2018 to a high of −2% of GDP in 2019. The 2025 reading therefore sits in the upper part of that range, closer to the best year than to the worst.

Why it matters. A deficit of −2.9% of GDP means The Gambia still spends more abroad than it earns, and the difference has to be covered by grants, loans or investment inflows. The country relies on imports for much of its food and fuel, so a smaller gap eases pressure on foreign currency supplies and on the dalasi, which shapes the prices households pay. For the state, a narrower deficit means less new external financing to arrange than when the balance stood at −8.1% of GDP in 2018.