Congo - Kinshasa vs South Africa: Government debt

Government debt: 17.2% of GDP in Congo - Kinshasa in 2023 and 76% of GDP in South Africa in 2024, by IMF estimates. In 2023 the value was higher in South Africa, by 56 percentage points, or 4.26 times that in Congo - Kinshasa.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

Congo - KinshasaSouth AfricaIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

South Africa has been higher since 2011, when it overtook Congo - Kinshasa.
The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Congo - Kinshasa at 32.6% of GDP and South Africa at 79.8% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

Year	Congo - Kinshasa	South Africa
2024	17.3	76
2023	17.2	73.2
2022	16.6	70.7
2021	15.6	68.8
2020	12.8	68.9
2019	9.7	56.1
2018	9.2	51.5
2017	8.4	48.6
2016	10.6	47.1
2015	10.2	45.2
2014	8.7	43.3
2013	8.3	40.4
2012	7.6	37.4
2011	7.8	34.7
2010	31.8	31.2
2009	91.6	27
2008	80.3	24.1
2007	85.1	24.3
2006	107.5	28
2005	112	29.6
2004	164.1	30.7
2003	114.5	31.5
2002	136	31.8
2001	185.4	38.1
2000	135	37.9

12.3Projected

IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2025–2031

Year	Congo - Kinshasa	South Africa
2025	20.4	78.4
2026	23.7	78
2027	26.9	78.1
2028	28.4	78.8
2029	30	79.5
2030	31.5	79.7
2031	32.6	79.8

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.

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