ECONDEX

Economic and development data for every country, explained with the numbers checked.

Zambia

Sub-Saharan Africa. Lower middle income. Capital: Lusaka. Population 21,913,874 (2025).

Key trends

GDP per person (PPP) (constant international $)
2,152 2,931 3,710 1995 2025 3,742
GDP growth (%)
−2.5 3.8 10.0 1995 2025 3.8
Inflation, consumer prices (% annual)
7.2 24.8 42.3 1995 2025 13.9
Life expectancy at birth (years)
46.1 56.1 66.1 1995 2024 66.5

Indicators

Each country reports for different years, so check the year beside every figure. Rank 1 is the highest value among countries with recent data.

Economy

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
GDP per person (PPP)constant international $ 3,742 2025 +351 +165 173 of 199
GDP growth% 3.8% 2025 +6.5 pp +0.8 pp 85 of 209
GDP per person growth% 0.9% 2025 +6.5 pp +1.2 pp 149 of 209
GNI per person (Atlas method)current US$ 1,200 2025 +90 −330 180 of 201
Trade% of GDP 62.5% 2024 −6.3 pp −13.7 pp 122 of 183
Foreign direct investment, net inflows% of GDP 4.5% 2025 +3.1 pp −3.0 pp 46 of 195
Central government debt% of GDP 71.4% 2021 +25.0 pp +53.4 pp 14 of 48

Prices and jobs

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Inflation, consumer prices% annual 13.9% 2025 −1.8 pp +3.8 pp 16 of 180
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate)% of labour force 5.9% 2025 −0.1 pp 0.0 pp 79 of 186

People and health

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Populationpeople 21,913,874 2025 +2,854,479 +5,514,785 61 of 217
Population growth% annual 2.8% 2025 −0.1 pp −0.3 pp 19 of 217
Urban population% of total 45.9% 2025 +2.1 pp +4.0 pp 159 of 217
Life expectancy at birthyears 66.5 2024 +3.6 +6.4 181 of 217
Infant mortalityper 1,000 live births 34.6 2024 −1.5 −8.4 35 of 196
Health spending% of GDP 6.0% 2023 +1.2 pp +1.4 pp 105 of 193

Education

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Adult literacy rate% of people aged 15+ 71.8% 2024 −10.0 pp – 68 of 86
Government spending on education% of GDP 4.1% 2023 −0.7 pp +0.4 pp 90 of 171

Access and infrastructure

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Internet users% of population 17.1% 2024 +2.6 pp +10.6 pp 179 of 185
Access to electricity% of population 53.6% 2024 +10.6 pp +25.7 pp 197 of 215

Inequality and poverty

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Gini index (inequality)index, 0 to 100 51.5 2022 −4.3 −0.5 3 of 85
Poverty headcount ratio% of population, at the World Bank international poverty line 71.7% 2022 +3.8 pp +0.3 pp 2 of 85

Environment and energy

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Renewable energy% of final energy consumption 83.0% 2021 −1.0 pp −4.9 pp 11 of 212

* Latest figure is too old to be included in rankings or peer medians.

Advanced metrics

Indicator Own history Versus peers (latest) Growth and catch-up
10-yr meanZ-score Income group medianRegion medianVolatility (σ) 10-yr CAGR% of high-income median10 yrs earlier
GDP per person (PPP) 3,589 +1.7 6,095 3,781 89 +0.5% 8% 8%
GDP growth 3.4% +0.2 4.3% 4.6% 2.5 – – –
GDP per person growth 0.4% +0.2 2.7% 2.5% 2.5 – – –
GNI per person (Atlas method) 1,267 −0.5 2,750 1,355 144 −2.4% 3% 6%
Trade 75.8% −2.5 69.0% 59.9% 5.3 – – –
Foreign direct investment, net inflows 3.3% +0.4 1.9% 2.0% 2.9 – – –
Central government debt 48.3% +0.9 45.1% 58.1% 24.8 – – –
Inflation, consumer prices 12.6% +0.3 3.6% 3.5% 4.9 – – –
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate) 5.5% +0.8 5.1% 5.4% 0.5 – – –
Population 18,809,710 +1.9 12,348,573 14,957,094 1,649,912 +2.9% 748% 624%
Population growth 2.9% −1.2 1.7% 2.3% 0.1 – – –
Urban population 43.7% +1.9 50.9% 44.9% 1.2 – – –
Life expectancy at birth 62.6 +2.0 67.9 64.3 2.0 – – –
Infant mortality 38.0 −1.1 28.7 37.2 3.0 – – –
Health spending 5.2% +0.8 4.5% 4.4% 1.0 – – –
Government spending on education 4.1% 0.0 4.0% 3.3% 0.6 – – –
Internet users 12.7% +1.4 57.9% 36.8% 3.2 – – –
Access to electricity 40.8% +1.7 88.7% 57.8% 7.4 – – –
Renewable energy 85.0% −1.5 42.5% 70.6% 1.3 – – –

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