Economy · Current account balance · Liberia
Liberia’s current account balance rose to 2.5% of GDP in 2024.
2.5% of GDP
2024
Up 14 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
2.5% of GDP
What it is. The current account balance adds up what Liberia earns from the rest of the world and what it pays out: trade in goods and services, income on wages and investments, and transfers such as remittances and grants. The total is divided by GDP so that years can be compared. A positive figure means the country earns more abroad than it spends. The measure leaves out loans, investment inflows and other financial flows, which show how any gap is funded.
Higher is better. A higher balance means the economy brings in more foreign income than it sends out, so it needs less borrowing or aid to cover its bills abroad. The latest figure is 2.5% of GDP for 2024, up from −11.5% of GDP a year earlier, a swing of 14 percentage points. Since 2015 the balance has ranged from a low of −19.7% of GDP in 2018 to a high of 5.3% of GDP in 2015. The 2024 reading therefore sits in the upper part of that range, below the 2015 peak.
Why it matters. A surplus of 2.5% of GDP in 2024 means Liberia earned more from abroad than it paid out, which eases pressure on the foreign currency needed for imports such as food and fuel. A year earlier the deficit of 11.5% of GDP had to be financed from outside, leaving the country more exposed to lenders and donors. The next annual figure will show whether the 2024 surplus holds.
| Period | Current account balance · Liberia |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 5.3% of GDP |
| 2016 | −8.1% of GDP |
| 2017 | −16.7% of GDP |
| 2018 | −19.7% of GDP |
| 2019 | −19.7% of GDP |
| 2020 | −10.3% of GDP |
| 2021 | −2.8% of GDP |
| 2022 | −8.7% of GDP |
| 2023 | −11.5% of GDP |
| 2024 | 2.5% of GDP |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Current account balance, Liberia, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/current-account-balance/liberia
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Methodology
Current account balance as a share of GDP. Unit: % of GDP. A negative value is a deficit.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series BN.CAB.XOKA.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.