AFRICA · COUNTRY REFERENCE
Zambia
Written and compiled by American Business Capital Group Inc.
Selected country or entityMap: Natural Earth ↗
ANNUAL ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT
Population & economic scale
The most recent non-empty observations returned by the World Bank when this snapshot was collected. Read the year on each card: these are annual statistics, not live measurements.
World Bank reporting entity: Zambia · 3 of 3 indicators available.
Population
21,913,874
people
observation
Definition, value & source
Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.
Received value: 21913874 people. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wpp/, publisher: UN Population Division; Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), uri: https://unstats.un.org/home/nso_sites/, publisher: National Statistical Offices; Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, Eurostat (ESTAT), uri: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database?node_code=earn_ses_monthly, publisher: Eurostat; Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), United Nations (UN), uri: https://unstats.un.org, publisher: UN Statistics Division
GDP
$28.88 billion
current US$
observation
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
Received value: 28879806220.1264 current US$. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP per capita
$1,318
current US$ per person
observation
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. The core indicator has been divided by the general population to achieve a per capita estimate.This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
Received value: 1317.87771619597 current US$ per person. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP and GDP per capita use current US dollars, without an inflation or purchasing-power-parity adjustment. Source years can differ. Missing data is not zero; earlier archive figures below are retained as a separate historical reference.
THE REFERENCE FILE
Zambia at a glance
These are historical reference facts from the 2025 World Factbook archive. Each estimate keeps its own period; an archive edition does not make every figure a measurement from that year.
Population
total: 22,021,971 (2025 est.) male: 11,066,079 female: 10,955,892
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$79.207 billion (2024 est.) $76.129 billion (2023 est.) $72.251 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)
$26.326 billion (2024 est.) note: data in current dollars at official exchange rate
Real GDP growth rate
4% (2024 est.) 5.4% (2023 est.) 5.2% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency
Real GDP per capita
$3,700 (2024 est.) $3,700 (2023 est.) $3,600 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
15% (2024 est.) 10.9% (2023 est.) 11% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Unemployment rate
6% (2024 est.) 6% (2023 est.) 6% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment
Labor force
7.407 million (2024 est.) note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work
Public debt
71.4% of GDP (2021 est.) note: central government debt as a % of GDP
Budget
revenues: $5.388 billion (2021 est.) expenditures: $6.19 billion (2021 est.) note: central government revenues and expenses (excluding grants/extrabudgetary units/social security funds) converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated
Current account balance
-$582.715 million (2023 est.) $1.093 billion (2022 est.) $2.63 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars
Exports
$11.454 billion (2023 est.) $12.444 billion (2022 est.) $11.728 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Imports
$10.854 billion (2023 est.) $10.022 billion (2022 est.) $7.691 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$3.173 billion (2023 est.) $2.968 billion (2022 est.) $2.754 billion (2021 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
Debt - external
$16.597 billion (2023 est.) note: present value of external debt in current US dollars
Electricity access
electrification - total population: 47.8% (2022 est.) electrification - urban areas: 87% electrification - rural areas: 14.5%
Internet users
percent of population: 33% (2023 est.)
THE HISTORICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY
Explore the country in detail
Browse the economy, population, resources and infrastructure. These archived descriptions keep their original wording and dates; they have not been updated to describe current conditions.
30 of 30 sections
Location
Southern Africa, east of Angola, south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Capital
name: Lusaka geographic coordinates: 15 25 S, 28 17 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) etymology: named after a village with a headman (chief) called LUSAAKAS
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Economic overview
lower-middle-income sub-Saharan economy; regional hydroelectricity producer; trade ties and infrastructure investments from China; IMF assistance to restructure debt burden; one of youngest and fastest-growing labor forces; systemic corruption; extreme rural poverty
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural resources
copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Agricultural products
sugarcane, cassava, maize, soybeans, milk, vegetables, wheat, groundnuts, sweet potatoes, beef (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Industries
copper mining and processing, emerald mining, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, fertilizer, horticulture
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - partners
Switzerland 27%, China 15%, India 13%, UAE 12%, DRC 10% (2023) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - commodities
raw copper, refined copper, gold, precious stones, electricity (2023) note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - partners
South Africa 25%, China 15%, UAE 10%, India 5%, Japan 5% (2023) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - commodities
refined petroleum, fertilizers, trucks, sulphur, tractors (2023) note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Climate
tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April)
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Terrain
mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Land use
agricultural land: 32.1% (2023 est.) arable land: 5.1% (2023 est.) permanent crops: 0.1% (2023 est.) permanent pasture: 26.9% (2023 est.) forest: 60.6% (2023 est.) other: 7.3% (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural hazards
periodic drought; tropical storms (November to April)
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Languages
Bemba 33.4%, Nyanja 14.7%, Tonga 11.4%, Lozi 5.5%, Chewa 4.5%, Nsenga 2.9%, Tumbuka 2.5%, Lunda (North Western) 1.9%, Kaonde 1.8%, Lala 1.8%, Lamba 1.8%, English (official) 1.7%, Luvale 1.5%, Mambwe 1.3%, Namwanga 1.2%, Lenje 1.1%, Bisa 1%, other 9.7%, unspecified 0.2% (2010 est.) note: Zambia is said to have over 70 languages, although many of these may be considered dialects; all of Zambia's major languages are members of the Bantu family; Chewa and Nyanja are mutually intelligible dialects
2010 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Religions
Protestant 75.3%, Roman Catholic 20.2%, other 2.7% (includes Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Baha'i), none 1.8% (2010 est.)
2010 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Age structure
0-14 years: 42.1% (male 4,418,980/female 4,337,187) 15-64 years: 55.1% (male 5,726,265/female 5,736,732) 65 years and over: 2.8% (2024 est.) (male 262,008/female 317,944)
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Urbanization
urban population: 46.3% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 4.15% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
2023, 2020 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 66.9 years (2024 est.) male: 65.2 years female: 68.7 years
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Literacy
total population: 71.1% (2018 est.) male: 81.7% (2018 est.) female: 62.2% (2018 est.)
2018 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Electricity
installed generating capacity: 3.986 million kW (2023 est.) consumption: 14.399 billion kWh (2023 est.) exports: 3 billion kWh (2023 est.) imports: 180 million kWh (2023 est.) transmission/distribution losses: 2.229 billion kWh (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Electricity generation sources
fossil fuels: 11% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) solar: 0.8% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) hydroelectricity: 87.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) biomass and waste: 0.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Petroleum
refined petroleum consumption: 34,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Carbon dioxide emissions
9.877 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.) from coal and metallurgical coke: 4.835 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.) from petroleum and other liquids: 5.042 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Telephones - mobile cellular
total subscriptions: 23.2 million (2024 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 109 (2024 est.)
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Broadband - fixed subscriptions
total: 99,000 (2023 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2023 est.) less than 1
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Airports
120 (2025)
2025 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Railways
total: 3,126 km (2014) narrow gauge: 3,126 km (2014) 1.067-m gauge note: includes 1,860 km of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA)
2014 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
GDP - composition, by sector of origin
agriculture: 1.8% (2024 est.) industry: 37.5% (2024 est.) services: 55.1% (2024 est.) note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Remittances
0.9% of GDP (2023 est.) 0.8% of GDP (2022 est.) 1.1% of GDP (2021 est.) note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities
2023, 2022, 2021 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
CURRENCY OBSERVATIONS
Money & exchange rates
The latest verified daily references are separate from the historical country profile. Values are currency units per US$1.
Zambian Kwacha
ZMW per US$1
Published reference snapshot; its original observation date is preserved.
1 ZMW = US$0.05056864
19.1641–19.7751 ZMW per US$1 across the displayed observations. The vertical scale follows this range.
View dated observations
| Observation date | ZMW per US$1 |
|---|---|
| Oct 6, 2026 | 19.7751 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | 19.7204 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | 19.7041 |
| Oct 3, 2026 | 19.6924 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 19.6874 |
| Oct 1, 2026 | 19.6354 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 19.5838 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | 19.5288 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | 19.5276 |
| Sep 27, 2026 | 19.5266 |
| Sep 26, 2026 | 19.5351 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 19.5276 |
| Sep 24, 2026 | 19.5395 |
| Sep 23, 2026 | 19.5325 |
| Sep 22, 2026 | 19.5899 |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 19.6329 |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 19.6662 |
| Sep 19, 2026 | 19.6566 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 19.6516 |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 19.6359 |
| Sep 16, 2026 | 19.5585 |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 19.4364 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 19.3556 |
| Sep 13, 2026 | 19.3408 |
| Sep 12, 2026 | 19.3367 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 19.3292 |
| Sep 10, 2026 | 19.2826 |
| Sep 9, 2026 | 19.2521 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | 19.1935 |
| Sep 7, 2026 | 19.1641 |
Daily references are not live execution prices. A check time does not change a source observation date.
CAPITAL MARKETS
Stock exchanges
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Official data & country reports
Research directories have their own coverage. A link is not a claim that every entity has an IMF report or a separate national statistical office.
SOURCES & DATES
Where the facts come from.
Editorial presentation by American Business Capital Group Inc. The organizations and archive links below are the underlying sources.
- Country reference
- CIA World Factbook · 2025 archive
- Archive retrieved
- Oct 6, 2026 · retrieval date, not an observation period
- Currency associations
- SIX / ISO 4217 currency registry ↗
- Rate observations
- Frankfurter / official reference providers ↗ · each observation is dated separately
- State classification
- UN member states ↗ · UN observer states ↗
- UN membership is shown separately from territory and currency coverage; inclusion is not a position on sovereignty or boundaries.
- CIA World Factbook text preserved by World Factbook Archive. Archive edition 2025; individual estimates retain their own dates. These are historical reference facts, not current observations.
About the editions. The CIA announced the end of its online World Factbook on February 4, 2026. Our historical profiles retain the archive editions shown above.
Skyhorse lists The CIA World Factbook 2026–2027, published April 7, 2026 (ISBN 9781510786042). That book’s full text has not been incorporated here; its edition title does not redate the imported archive. Archive distribution license.
Geography is a simplified reference. Displayed boundaries and entity inclusion do not express a position on sovereignty or disputed borders.