Economy — Zambia
GDP, employment, industries, public finance, and currency.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Economy at a glance
GDP, employment, industries, public finance, and currency. Key figure for Zambia: Zambia had one of the world’s fastest growing economies for the ten years up to 2014, with real GDP growth averaging roughly 6.7% per annum, though growth slowed during the period 2015 to 2017, due to falling copper prices, reduced power generation, and depreciation of the kwacha. Zambia’s lack of economic diversifi…
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Economic overview
- Economic Overview
Zambia had one of the world’s fastest growing economies for the ten years up to 2014, with real GDP growth averaging roughly 6.7% per annum, though growth slowed during the period 2015 to 2017, 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.
GDP growth picked up in 2017 as mineral prices rose.
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, by market-distorting agricultural and energy policies, and growing government debt.
Zambia raised $7 billion from international investors by issuing separate sovereign bonds in 2012, 2014, and 2015.
Concurrently, it issued over $4 billion in domestic debt and agreed to Chinese-financed infrastructure projects, significantly increasing the country’s public debt burden to more than 60% of GDP.
The government has considered refinancing $3 billion worth of Eurobonds and significant Chinese loans to cut debt servicing costs.
- Industries
copper mining and processing, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, fertilizer, horticulture
- GDP - per capita (PPP)
$4,300.00 (USD)
- GDP - real growth rate
4.3%
GDP & growth
- GDP - Gross Domestic Product (PPP)
$60,120,000,000 (USD)
- GDP Per Capita
$4,300.00 (USD)
- GDP - real growth rate
4.3%
- GDP - official exchange rate
$24,470,000,000 (USD)
- GDP - composition, by end use
- household consumption: 52.6%
- government consumption: 20.9%
- investment in fixed capital: 25.3%
- investment in inventories: 1.1%
- exports of goods and services: 40.7%
- imports of goods and services: -40.6%
- GDP by Sector- agriculture
8.6%
- GDP by Sector- Industry
31.3%
- GDP by Sector- services
60%
- Industrial Growth Rate
12.1%
Prices & money
- Inflation Rate
8.5%
- Exchange Rate per US Dollar
Zambian kwacha (ZMK)
- Currency Name and Code
Zambian Kwacha (ZMW)
- Fiscal Year
calendar year
- Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
10.4%
Employment & labor
- Labor Force
5,524,000
- Unemployment Rate
14%
- Major Industries
copper mining and processing, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, fertilizer, horticulture
- Agriculture Products
- corn, sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower seed, vegetables, flowers, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca)
- cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, milk, eggs, hides
- coffee
- Population Below Poverty Line
64%
- Child Labor - # of children ages 5-14
1,000,850
- Child Labor - % of children ages 5-14
41%
- Child Labor - note
note: data represents children ages 7-14
Public finance
- Annual Budget
$3,200,000,000 (USD)
- Public Debt (% of GDP)
104.2%
- Budget Surplus or Deficit - percent of GDP
-8.4%
- Taxes and other revenues - percent of GDP
21.6%