Zambia: Economy#
Zambia has had one of the world’s fastest growing economies for the past ten years, with real GDP growth averaging roughly 6.7% per annum, though growth slowed in 2015 to just over 3%, due to falling copper prices, reduced power generation, and depreciation of the kwacha. Zambia’s lack of economic diversification and dependency on copper as its sole major export makes it vulnerable to fluctuations in the world commodities market and prices turned downward in 2015 due to declining demand from China; Zambia was overtaken by the Democratic Republic of Congo as Africa’s largest copper producer.Despite recent strong economic growth and its status as a lower middle-income country, widespread and extreme rural poverty and high unemployment levels remain significant problems, made worse by a high birth rate, a relatively high HIV/AIDS burden, and by market-distorting agricultural and energy policies. Economic policy inconsistency and poor budget execution in recent years has hindered the economy and contributed to weakness in the kwacha, which was Africa’s worst performing currency during 2015. Zambia has raised $7 billion from international investors by issuing separate sovereign bonds in September 2012, April 2014, and July 2015, significantly increasing the country’s public debt as a share of GDP.
Poor management of water resources has also contributed to a power generation shortage, which has hampered industrial productivity and contributed to an increase in year-on-year inflation to 23% by March 2016. Zambia’s currency, the kwacha, also depreciated sharply against the dollar through 2015, before the central bank restricted lending.
Economic Facts#
| GDP (purchasing power parity) | $65.17 billion (2016 est.) $63.27 billion (2015 est.) $61.43 billion (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars |
|---|---|
| GDP (official exchange rate) | $20.57 billion (2015 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 3% (2016 est.) 3% (2015 est.) 5% (2014 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP) | $3,900 (2016 est.) $3,900 (2015 est.) $3,900 (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars |
| Gross national saving | 27% of GDP (2016 est.) 31.9% of GDP (2015 est.) 37.1% of GDP (2014 est.) |
| GDP - composition, by end use | household consumption: 53% government consumption: 21.7% investment in fixed capital: 26% investment in inventories: 1.2% exports of goods and services: 43.8% imports of goods and services: -45.7% (2016 est.) |
| GDP - composition, by sector of origin | agriculture: 9.2% industry: 29.2% services: 61.7% (2016 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | corn, sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower seeds, vegetables, flowers, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, cassava (manioc, tapioca), coffee; cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, milk, eggs, hides |
| Industries | copper mining and processing, emerald mining, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, fertilizer, horticulture |
| Industrial production growth rate | 0.2% (2016 est.) |
| Labor force | 7.116 million (2016 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 85% industry: 6% services: 9% (2004) |
| Unemployment rate | 15% (2008 est.) 50% (2000 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 60.5% (2010 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.5% highest 10%: 47.4% (2010) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index | 57.5 (2013) 50.8 (2004) |
| Budget | revenues: $3.418 billion expenditures: $5.079 billion (2016 est.) |
| Taxes and other revenues | 16.6% of GDP (2016 est.) |
| Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) | -8.1% of GDP (2016 est.) |
| Public debt | 57.2% of GDP (2016 est.) 58.6% of GDP (2015 est.) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 20.7% (2016 est.) 10.1% (2015 est.) |
| Central bank discount rate | 9.1% (31 December 2012) 19% (31 December 2011) |
| Commercial bank prime lending rate | 15.7% (31 December 2016 est.) 13.25% (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Stock of narrow money | $1.328 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $1.288 billion (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Stock of broad money | $5.682 billion (31 December 2014 est.) $5.437 billion (31 December 2013 est.) |
| Stock of domestic credit | $3.672 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $3.682 billion (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares | $3.004 billion (31 December 2012 est.) $4.009 billion (31 December 2011 est.) $2.817 billion (31 December 2010 est.) |
| Current account balance | -$932 million (2016 est.) -$768 million (2015 est.) |
| Exports | $6.609 billion (2016 est.) $6.998 billion (2015 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | copper/cobalt, cobalt, electricity; tobacco, flowers, cotton |
| Exports - partners | China 25.5%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 13%, South Africa 6.4%, South Korea 4.9%, India 4.3% (2015) |
| Imports | $6.752 billion (2016 est.) $7.711 billion (2015 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, electricity, fertilizer, foodstuffs, clothing |
| Imports - partners | South Africa 34.5%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 18.2%, Kenya 9.7%, China 7.3%, India 4.4% (2015) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $2.046 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $2.968 billion (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Debt - external | $9.27 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $8.88 billion (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | $NA |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | $NA |
| Exchange rates | Zambian kwacha (ZMK) per US dollar - 10.8 (2016 est.) 8.6 (2015 est.) 8.6 (2014 est.) 6.2 (2013 est.) 5.1 (2012 est.) |