Botswana vs Zimbabwe

Botswana vs Zimbabwe: Government debt

Government debt: 30.5% of GDP in Botswana in 2024 and 38% of GDP in Zimbabwe in 2025, by IMF estimates. In 2024 the value was higher in Zimbabwe, by 39.9 percentage points, or 2.31 times that in Botswana.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

Botswana vs Zimbabwe: Government debtGovernment debt: 30.5% of GDP in Botswana in 2024 and 38% of GDP in Zimbabwe in 2025, by IMF estimates. In 2024 the value was higher in Zimbabwe, by 39.9 percentage points, or 2.31 times that in Botswana.
BotswanaZimbabweIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • Zimbabwe has been higher in every year both have figures for since 2005.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Botswana at 64.4% of GDP and Zimbabwe at 25.7% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

YearBotswanaZimbabwe
20253438
202430.570.4
202322.576.1
20222066.8
202122.339.9
202023.556.8
201921.553.9
201819.633
201719.649
201622.335.1
201524.534.1
201423.929.2
201323.826.4
201226.527.2
201127.930
201026.633.2
200922.439.7
20087.841.3
20075.930.2
20066.126.7
20057.522.4
200410.8–
20037.1–
20028.4–
20017.5–
20008.2–
19999.3–
199811.3–
  • 12.3Projected
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearBotswanaZimbabwe
202640.333.5
202745.530.6
20285030.2
202954.428.2
203059.126.7
203164.425.7

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • What the government owes, as a share of the economy’s yearly output.
  • Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
  • The dashed line is the IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026), a scenario rather than a forecast.
  • Ranks count the 149 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

Botswana vs Zimbabwe

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