Congo - Kinshasa vs Zambia
Congo - Kinshasa vs Zambia: Government debt
Government debt: 17.2% of GDP in Congo - Kinshasa in 2023 and 100.6% of GDP in Zambia in 2025, by IMF estimates. In 2023 the value was higher in Zambia, by 119.6 percentage points, or 7.96 times that in Congo - Kinshasa.
% of GDP · IMF
What the numbers say
- Zambia 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 Zambia at 56.7% of GDP in 2031.
Every year
% of GDP · IMF
| Year | Congo - Kinshasa | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20.4 | 100.6 |
| 2024 | 17.3 | 125.5 |
| 2023 | 17.2 | 136.8 |
| 2022 | 16.6 | 99.5 |
| 2021 | 15.6 | 111 |
| 2020 | 12.8 | 140 |
| 2019 | 9.7 | 103.3 |
| 2018 | 9.2 | 81.2 |
| 2017 | 8.4 | 66.6 |
| 2016 | 10.6 | 61.2 |
| 2015 | 10.2 | 61.9 |
| 2014 | 8.7 | 33.9 |
| 2013 | 8.3 | 25.9 |
| 2012 | 7.6 | 24.9 |
| 2011 | 7.8 | 20.8 |
| 2010 | 31.8 | 18.9 |
| 2009 | 91.6 | 20.5 |
| 2008 | 80.3 | 19.2 |
| 2007 | 85.1 | 21.9 |
| 2006 | 107.5 | 25 |
| 2005 | 112 | 75.8 |
| 2004 | 164.1 | 129.9 |
| 2003 | 114.5 | 159.5 |
| 2002 | 136 | 180.2 |
| 2001 | 185.4 | 210.2 |
| 2000 | 135 | 261 |
- 12.3Projected
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
| Year | Congo - Kinshasa | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 23.7 | 82.1 |
| 2027 | 26.9 | 77 |
| 2028 | 28.4 | 72.3 |
| 2029 | 30 | 67.2 |
| 2030 | 31.5 | 61.9 |
| 2031 | 32.6 | 56.7 |
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
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