Economy · Real GDP growth (annual) · Botswana
Botswana’s real GDP growth (annual) rose to −0.73% y/y in 2025.
−0.73% y/y
2025
Up 2 pp from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
−0.73% y/y
What it is. This measure tracks the yearly change in the volume of goods and services produced in Botswana, valued at constant prices so that inflation is stripped out. It is built from World Bank national accounts and covers output recorded in the formal accounts, which leaves out how income is shared and any depletion of natural resources. A single annual figure can swing widely, as the range since 2016 shows.
Higher is better. Faster growth means more output to support jobs, wages and tax revenue, so a higher reading is better and a negative one means the economy produced less than a year earlier. The latest figure, for 2025, is −0.73% y/y, up from −2.8% y/y in 2024, an improvement of 2 percentage points. Since 2016 the weakest year was 2020 at −8.7% y/y and the strongest was 2021 at 11.9% y/y. The latest reading sits in the lower half of that range and is still below zero.
Why it matters. Output fell in both 2024 and 2025, so households have had little growth in the economy to lift incomes or create new jobs. Firms face flat or shrinking demand, which tends to hold back hiring and investment. The state collects tax from a smaller base, which narrows its room to spend. The next annual release will show whether growth turns positive.
| Period | Real GDP growth (annual) · Botswana |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 7.2% y/y |
| 2017 | 4.1% y/y |
| 2018 | 4.2% y/y |
| 2019 | 3% y/y |
| 2020 | −8.7% y/y |
| 2021 | 11.9% y/y |
| 2022 | 5.5% y/y |
| 2023 | 3.2% y/y |
| 2024 | −2.8% y/y |
| 2025 | −0.73% y/y |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
How to read this number
- Source
- Who published the figure
- Published
- When they released it
- Verified
- When we last checked it against the source
Every change is logged in Corrections. How the figure is made: Methodology.
Cite this number
Show text
Strata-AF™ Data, Real GDP growth (annual), Botswana, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/real-gdp-growth-annual/botswana
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
What this means
Working this out from the published figures…
Strata AI commentary is coming — reviewed, dated, and generated only from the figures on this page.
Methodology
Annual growth of GDP at constant prices (World Bank national accounts). Quarterly national releases are a separate indicator.
Annual growth of GDP at constant prices (World Bank national accounts). Unit: % y/y. Quarterly national releases are a separate indicator.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.