Madagascar’s current account balance fell to −5.2% of GDP in 2025.

Higher is better. A higher balance is better because a surplus lets a country pay its way and build foreign assets, while a deficit has to be financed from abroad. Madagascar's latest figure is −5.2% of GDP for 2025, against −4% of GDP a year earlier, so the gap widened by 1.2 percentage points over the year. Since 2016 the range runs from a high of 0.71% of GDP in 2018 to a low of −5.5% of GDP in 2022. The 2025 reading therefore sits close to the bottom of that range and a little above the 2022 low.

Why it matters. A deficit of this size means Madagascar is spending more abroad than it earns, and donors, lenders or investors must fill the gap. When that financing is scarce, pressure falls on foreign currency reserves and the ariary, which can raise the price of imported fuel, food and equipment for households and firms. For the state, a wider gap makes external borrowing and aid a larger part of keeping the economy supplied with foreign currency.