Economy · Current account balance · Sudan
Sudan’s current account balance fell to −8.5% of GDP in 2025.
−8.5% of GDP
2025
Down 3.8 pp from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
−8.5% of GDP
What it is. The current account balance adds up a country's trade in goods and services, income earned from and paid to the rest of the world, and transfers such as remittances and aid, then divides the total by GDP. A negative figure means the country spends more abroad than it earns there, and the gap has to be financed by borrowing, investment inflows or drawing down reserves. Loans, investment and other financial flows sit in a separate account, so this measure shows the size of the gap and not how it is funded.
Higher is better. A higher balance is good because a smaller deficit, or a surplus, means less reliance on foreign financing. Sudan's latest figure is −8.5% of GDP for 2025, against −4.7% of GDP a year earlier, so the deficit widened by 3.8 percentage points over the year. Since 2016 the range runs from −21.6% of GDP in 2020 to −4.7% of GDP in 2024, which makes 2024 the strongest year in that span. The 2025 reading sits much nearer that best level than the 2020 low, though it has moved back away from it.
Why it matters. A deficit of 8.5% of GDP means Sudan needs foreign currency from aid, remittances, borrowing or reserves to pay for imports such as fuel, wheat and medicines. When that currency is short, pressure falls on the exchange rate and on the prices households pay for imported goods. For firms it makes imported inputs harder to secure, and for the state it limits room to service external debt.
| Period | Current account balance · Sudan |
|---|---|
| 2016 | −9.9% of GDP |
| 2017 | −11.2% of GDP |
| 2018 | −14.5% of GDP |
| 2019 | −14.8% of GDP |
| 2020 | −21.6% of GDP |
| 2021 | −7.7% of GDP |
| 2022 | −8.6% of GDP |
| 2023 | −5.2% of GDP |
| 2024 | −4.7% of GDP |
| 2025 | −8.5% 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, Sudan, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/current-account-balance/sudan
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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.