
Botswana: Government spending, percent of GDP
* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
| Botswana |
Government spending as percent of GDP |
|---|---|
| Latest value | 31.48 |
| Year | 2025 |
| Measure | percent |
| Data availability | 1960 - 2025 |
| Average | 25.33 |
| Min - Max | 13.34 - 36.17 |
| Source | The World Bank |
| Available for | Data download |
The latest value from 2025 is 31.48 percent, a decline from 31.75 percent in 2024. In comparison, the world average is 16.56 percent, based on data from 131 countries. Historically, the average for Botswana from 1960 to 2025 is 25.33 percent. The minimum value, 13.34 percent, was reached in 1972 while the maximum of 36.17 percent was recorded in 2020.
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* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
| Recent values | Botswana: Government spending, percent of GDP |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 31.48 |
| 2024 | 31.75 |
| 2023 | 29.43 |
| 2022 | 27.98 |
| 2021 | 31.57 |
| 2020 | 36.17 |
| 2019 | 31.65 |
| 2018 | 29.10 |
The government size of Botswana and other countries is calculated as the total government spending as percent of GDP.
Definition: Final consumption expenditure is expenditure on goods and services by resident institutional units for the direct satisfaction of human needs or wants, whether individual or collective. General government FCE includes all government current expenditures for purchases of goods and services (including compensation of employees), and most expenditures on national defense and security, but excludes government military expenditures that are part of government capital formation. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
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| Related indicators | Latest | Reference | Measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government spending, percent of GDP | 31.48 | 2025 | percent |
| Government spending, in dollars | 6.27 | 2025 | billion U.S. dollars |
| Fiscal balance, percent of GDP | -7.78 | 2024 | percent |
| Primary budget balance | -6.76 | 2024 | percent |
| Government expenditure | 21.79 | Q1/2026 | billion |
| Tax revenue | 22.42 | 2023 | percent |
| Taxes on goods and services | 14.54 | 2023 | percent |
| Taxes on international trade | 32.61 | 2023 | percent |
| Income and profits taxes | 32.45 | 2023 | percent |
| Foreign aid | 284.58 | 2023 | million U.S. dollars |
| Government debt | 29.87 | 2024 | percent |
| Short-term government debt | 4.98 | 2024 | percent |