Economy · Nominal GDP · Zambia
Zambia’s nominal GDP rose to $28.9bn in 2025.
$28.9bn
2025
Up $3.6bn from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
$28.9bn
What it is. Nominal GDP adds up the value of everything produced in Zambia in a year, priced in current US dollars. Output is first counted in kwacha at that year's prices and then converted at prevailing exchange rates, so the dollar total moves with the kwacha as well as with real activity. It says nothing about how income is shared, about unpaid work, or about how much of the output stays in the country.
Higher is better. A larger figure means a bigger economy in dollar terms, which gives the country more capacity to pay for imports, service foreign debt and fund public services. The latest figure, for 2025, is $28.9bn, up $3.6bn or 14.1% from $25.3bn a year earlier. Since 2016 the low was $18.1bn in 2020 and the high was $29.2bn in 2022. The 2025 figure sits just below that high, close to the top of its range.
Why it matters. A dollar economy of $28.9bn makes debt and import bills easier to carry than the $18.1bn of 2020 did. Government revenue, measured against output, has more room when the dollar total is higher. Firms and households feel it mainly through the kwacha: a stronger currency lifts the dollar total and lowers the cost of imported fuel, machinery and food.
| Period | Nominal GDP · Zambia |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $21bn |
| 2017 | $25.9bn |
| 2018 | $26.3bn |
| 2019 | $23.3bn |
| 2020 | $18.1bn |
| 2021 | $22.1bn |
| 2022 | $29.2bn |
| 2023 | $27.6bn |
| 2024 | $25.3bn |
| 2025 | $28.9bn |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Nominal GDP, Zambia, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/nominal-gdp/zambia
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Methodology
Gross domestic product at current US dollars. Unit: USD bn.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series NY.GDP.MKTP.CD), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.