Economy · Africa ranking
Government Spending (% of GDP) by African country
Lesotho has the highest general government expenditure as a share of GDP of any African country, at 53.5% — 1.3× Namibia's 39.9%.
General government total expenditure as a share of GDP. 37 of 54 countries, ranked · IMF MACRO FINANCIAL, 2024.
Lesotho
Namibia
AlgeriaBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Government Spending (% of GDP) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lesotho | 53.5% | |
| 2 | Namibia | 39.9% | |
| 3 | Algeria | 36.8% | |
| 4 | Tunisia | 33.8% | |
| 5 | Seychelles | 33.8% | |
| 6 | Senegal | 33.5% | |
| 7 | Mozambique | 33.2% | |
| 8 | Morocco | 33% | |
| 9 | South Africa | 33% | |
| 10 | Eswatini | 32.8% | |
| 11 | Rwanda | 28.8% | |
| 12 | Burkina Faso | 27.8% | |
| 13 | Togo | 26.4% | |
| 14 | Cabo Verde | 26.1% | |
| 15 | Gabon | 24.8% | |
| 16 | Kenya | 23.3% | |
| 17 | Ghana | 23.2% | |
| 18 | Burundi | 22.3% | |
| 19 | Republic of the Congo | 21.7% | |
| 20 | Djibouti | 20.6% | |
| 21 | Guinea | 20.6% | |
| 22 | Cote d'Ivoire | 20.4% | |
| 23 | Guinea-Bissau | 20.4% | |
| 24 | Central African Republic | 19.5% | |
| 25 | Comoros | 19.1% | |
| 26 | Tanzania | 19.1% | |
| 27 | Chad | 18.8% | |
| 28 | Uganda | 18.7% | |
| 29 | Equatorial Guinea | 18.5% | |
| 30 | Angola | 18.4% | |
| 31 | Benin | 18.1% | |
| 32 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 16.7% | |
| 33 | Madagascar | 16.2% | |
| 34 | Niger | 13.4% | |
| 35 | Nigeria | 12.3% | |
| 36 | Ethiopia | 9.5% | |
| 37 | Sudan | 6.4% |
Tunisia
Seychelles
Senegal
Mozambique
Morocco
South Africa
Eswatini
Rwanda
Burkina Faso
Togo
Cabo Verde
Gabon
Kenya
Ghana
Burundi
Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Guinea
Cote d'Ivoire
Guinea-Bissau
Central African Republic
Comoros
Tanzania
Chad
Uganda
Equatorial Guinea
Angola
Benin
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Madagascar
Niger
Nigeria
Ethiopia
SudanGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Government Spending (% of GDP) figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=government_expenditure_pct_gdp&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — IMF MACRO FINANCIAL, 2024. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest general government expenditure as a share of GDP?
Lesotho has the highest general government expenditure as a share of GDP in Africa at 53.5% (2024), followed by Namibia and Algeria.
Which African country has the lowest general government expenditure as a share of GDP?
Sudan has the lowest general government expenditure as a share of GDP of the 37 African countries with data, at 6.4% (2024).
How many African countries report Government Spending (% of GDP) data?
37 of 54 African countries have a recent Government Spending (% of GDP) figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=government_expenditure_pct_gdp&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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