Congo - Kinshasa vs Zambia
Congo - Kinshasa vs Zambia: GDP growth
GDP growth: 8.5% a year in Congo - Kinshasa in 2023 and 3.8% a year in Zambia in 2025, by IMF estimates. In 2023 the value was higher in Congo - Kinshasa, by 3.2 percentage points, or 1.59 times that in Zambia.
% a year · IMF
What the numbers say
- Congo - Kinshasa has been higher since 2020, when it overtook Zambia.
- The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Congo - Kinshasa at 5.5% a year and Zambia at 5.3% a year in 2031.
Every year
% a year · IMF
| Year | Congo - Kinshasa | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.7 | 3.8 |
| 2024 | 6.1 | 3.8 |
| 2023 | 8.5 | 5.4 |
| 2022 | 9.3 | 5.2 |
| 2021 | 6.4 | 6.2 |
| 2020 | 0.8 | -2.8 |
| 2019 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
| 2018 | 6.1 | 4 |
| 2017 | 4.2 | 3.5 |
| 2016 | 0.4 | 3.8 |
| 2015 | 6.4 | 2.9 |
| 2014 | 7.3 | 4.7 |
| 2013 | 9.6 | 5.1 |
| 2012 | 8.7 | 7.6 |
| 2011 | 7.6 | 5.6 |
| 2010 | 7.8 | 10.3 |
| 2009 | 0.6 | 9.2 |
| 2008 | 7.4 | 7.8 |
| 2007 | 8.5 | 8.4 |
| 2006 | 5.1 | 7.9 |
| 2005 | 9.8 | 7.2 |
| 2004 | 7.7 | 7 |
| 2003 | 6.6 | 6.9 |
| 2002 | 2.9 | 4.5 |
| 2001 | -2.1 | 5.3 |
| 2000 | -8.1 | 3.9 |
| 1999 | -3.8 | 4.7 |
| 1998 | -3.9 | -0.4 |
| 1997 | -7.8 | 3.8 |
| 1996 | -1.9 | 6.2 |
| 1995 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
| 1994 | -6.1 | -13.3 |
| 1993 | -13.5 | -0.1 |
| 1992 | -10.5 | 2.1 |
| 1991 | -8.4 | -0.7 |
| 1990 | -6.6 | -0.6 |
| 1989 | -1.3 | -3.7 |
| 1988 | 0.5 | 9.3 |
| 1987 | 2.7 | 1.5 |
| 1986 | 4.7 | 1.7 |
| 1985 | 0.5 | 1.2 |
| 1984 | 4.8 | -1.7 |
| 1983 | 1.4 | -1.1 |
| 1982 | -0.5 | -2.9 |
| 1981 | 0.9 | 6.6 |
| 1980 | 2.4 | 3.9 |
- 12.3Projected
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
| Year | Congo - Kinshasa | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 5.2 | 5.6 |
| 2027 | 5.7 | 4.9 |
| 2028 | 5.5 | 5 |
| 2029 | 5.5 | 5.3 |
| 2030 | 5.5 | 5.3 |
| 2031 | 5.5 | 5.3 |
Each country on its own
Good to know
- How much the economy grew or shrank in a year, after inflation.
- 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 143 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
Congo - Kinshasa vs Zambia
Health
- Life expectancyCongo - Kinshasa: 61.9 years in 2023Zambia: 66.4 years in 2023
- Child mortalityCongo - Kinshasa: 9 per 100 live births in 2024Zambia: 4.8 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalityCongo - Kinshasa: 49.3 per 1,000 live births in 2023Zambia: 38.2 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- DepressionCongo - Kinshasa: 3.96% in 2017Zambia: 3.64% in 2017
- Suicide rateCongo - Kinshasa: 11.6 per 100,000 people in 2017Zambia: 13.1 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationCongo - Kinshasa: 106 million people in 2023Zambia: 20.7 million people in 2023
- Population growthCongo - Kinshasa: 3.26% a year in 2023Zambia: 2.83% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateCongo - Kinshasa: 6.05 births per woman in 2023Zambia: 4.1 births per woman in 2023
- Urban populationCongo - Kinshasa: 45.1% in 2025Zambia: 45.9% in 2025
- Median ageCongo - Kinshasa: 15.8 years in 2023Zambia: 17.5 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overCongo - Kinshasa: 3.1% in 2023Zambia: 1.9% in 2023
- Net migration rateCongo - Kinshasa: -0.1 per 1,000 people in 2023Zambia: 0.5 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingCongo - Kinshasa: 1.38% of GDP in 2025Zambia: 1.26% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsCongo - Kinshasa: $1.08B in 2025Zambia: $343M in 2025
- Military spending per personCongo - Kinshasa: $11 in 2025Zambia: $19 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingCongo - Kinshasa: 8.1% of government spending in 2025Zambia: 4.5% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelCongo - Kinshasa: 134,000 people in 2020Zambia: 16,000 people in 2020
- National powerCongo - Kinshasa: 0.59% of world capability in 2022Zambia: 0.1% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersCongo - Kinshasa: 0.41% of the labour force in 2020Zambia: 0.24% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsCongo - Kinshasa: 44 million TIV in 2025Zambia: 1 million TIV in 2024
- Arms exportsCongo - Kinshasa: 22 million TIV in 1997Zambia: 2 million TIV in 1990