The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Zambia’s economy primarily depends on the trade in its capital city Lusaka and the Copperbelt Province. The Zambian economy is mixed in nature and is amongst the most urbanised economies in the African continent. In recent years, Zambia’s economy has shown a strong growth with a GDP growth rate above 5% since 2003.

(Source: Theodora, economy watch)

Gross domestic product (GDP)

Zambia’s GDP in 2010 was ZMK 76,015.2 billion compared to ZMK 64,615.58 billion in 2009.

(Source: IMF)

GDP growth

Zambia has had above 5% GDP growth since 2003. GDP growth in 2010 was 7.1%, which was the highest in the last decade.

 

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 40, National Statisticspage 18)

GNI per capita at PPP

The GNI per capita at PPP in Zambia has grown steadily from USD 1,060 in 2005 to USD 1,280 in 2009.

(Source: World Bank)

Income tax rate

The tax rate on individual income in Zambia is 35%.

Tax rate for individuals (ZMK)	Tax (%)
0 - 9,600,000	Nil
9,600,001 - 16,020,000	25
16,020,001 - 49,200,000	30
Over 49,200,001	35

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Corporate tax

 

Zambia's standard corporate tax is 35%.

(Source: taxrates.cc)

 

 

Inflation rate

Zambia's inflation rate shows a steady decrease varying from 11.5% in November 2009 to 7.1% in November 2010.

 

(Source: National Statistics page 3)   

FDI inflow

From 2007 to 2009, FDI inflows decreased from USD 1,323.90 million to USD 694.40 million.

 

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 31)

Portfolio investment inflow

Zambia’s portfolio investment inflow in 2009 amounted to USD 77.58 million.

 

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 31)

Banking sector assets

The table below shows the assets of the Bank of Zambia:

Bank of Zambia (ZMK million)
	2009	2008	2007
Total foreign assets	3,886.3	4,411.3	3,490.3
Total domestic assets	747.4	7.3	-284.0

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 17)

Consumer price index

Zambia's consumer price index was on steady rise from 2001 to 2010. The index figure for 2009 was at 1,923.5 compared to 1,749.8 in 2008.

Base1994 = 100

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 160)

Interest rate on saving and time deposit

	Savings rates less than ZMK 100,000	Savings rates more than ZMK 100,000	Time deposit 24 hr	Time deposit 180 day
2009	3.6	4.7	2.9	7.6
2008	3.5	4.8	2.6	6.6
2007	3.5	4.8	3.1	6.0

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 156)

Money supply

Money supply (ZMK million)
	October 2010	October 2009	October 2008
Narrow money M1	6,329,499	4,864,925	5,003,423
Broad money (M2)	16,708,238	13,025,716	12,104,899
Broad money M3)	17,638,955	13,745,862	12,741,599

(Source: Bank of Zambia)

Government expenditure

Government expenditure was ZMK 13,847.5 billion in 2009 compared to ZMK 13,280 billion in 2008.

 

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 37)

Public debt

The total public debt was USD 1,521.2 million in 2009 compared to USD 1199.8 million in 2008. 

 

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 35)

Official exchange rate

The average exchange rate of ZMK per USD at the end of 2009 was 4,641 compared to 4,832 in 2008.

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 146)

Government finances

Fiscal balance

The fiscal deficit for the year 2009 was ZMK 3,510.4 billion compared to a deficit of ZMK 3,475.2 billion in 2008.

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 37)

Total revenue

The total revenue in 2009 was ZMK 10,315.2 billion compared to ZMK 10,113.6 in 2008. The total revenue in 2009 was 16% of Zambia’s GDP.

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 37)

Tax revenue

Tax revenue had a steady increase from 2007 to 2009. The country’s tax revenue got to maximum in 2009(ZMK 9,660.90 billion) and minimum in 2007 (ZMK 8,183.60 billion).

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 37)

Total grants

The total grants in 2009 was ZMK 1,867.2 billion compared to ZMK 2,072.7 billion in 2008.

 

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 37)

Current account balance

At the end of 2009, the current account balance was ZMK 967,555 million compared to ZMK 496,535 million in 2008.

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 146)

Balance of payments

Balance of payments (USD million)
	2009	2008	2007
Current account	-456.6	-1,036.1	-754.5
Exports, f.o.b	4,189.4	4,877.2	4,448.5
Imports, f.o.b	-3,400.3	-4,554.3	-3,610.5
Services (net)	-461.6	-602.0	-639.6
Income net	-1,333.6	-1,398.6	-1,544.6
Current transfers (net)	473.2	560.1	530.5
Capital and financial account	879.0	1,046.1	1,065.4
Capital account	298.7	230.0	222.8
Financial account	580.3	816.1	842.6
Overall balance	427.4	12.7	310.5

(Source: Bank of Zambia page 31)

Labour force

Zambia's labour force was the highest in year 2008 at 4.68 million.

(Source: World Bank)

Unemployment rate

Zambia's unemployment rate was 50% of the total population.

(Source: mnnonline)

Minimum wages

Zambia's minimum wages is ZMK 268,000 per month in 2011.

(Source: minimum-wage)

Level of Unionisation

The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions is the main central trade union in the country and is affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

(Source: ICFTU)

Government stability

Zambia has a republican form of government. The country’s government consists of three main bodies: the Executive headed by the President, the Legislative headed by the Parliament and the Judiciary headed by the Chief Justice.

The executive powers are vested in the government, which is headed by the President. The President is also the head of the state.

The country’s parliament is known as the National Assembly, is unicameral and comprised of 158 members. Out of the 158 members, 150 are directly elected and the remaining are appointed by the head of the state. The members are elected for a 5-year term.

(Source: statehouse, IPU)

Regulatory environment

Zambia’s economic freedom score was 59.7, ranked as 91 in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom.

(Source: heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The corruption perceptions index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Zambia ranked as 101^st in the index indicating low level of corruption in public departments.

CPI ranking of the country moved from 99^th in 2009 to 101^st in 2010 with a score of 3.0 and confidence range of 2.8 to 3.2.

(Source: transparency.org, transparency.org)

Freedom of information

The world Press Freedom Index 2010 ranked Zambia at 82^nd position with a score of 22.00. The country’s press system is highly regionalised and newspapers are privately owned.

Major news papers in Zambia include:

•          Zambia Daily Mail
•          Times of Zambia
•          The Post
•          Sunday Times of Zambia

(Source: BBC, rsf)

Judicial system

The judiciary of Zambia is an independent body of the government. Judiciary system of the country is classified into Supreme Court of Zambia at the highest level followed by the High Court of Zambia, the Industrial Relations Court, the Subordinate Court, local courts and lower courts. The administration and supervision of all courts in the country are headed by Chief Justice. The judges of the Supreme Court of Zambia and the High Court of Zambia are appoint by the President.

(Source: statehouse)

Zambia's total population for the year 2010 was at 13.04 million, increasing at a rate of 0.86% over year 2009.

(Source: National Statistics, World Bank)

In 2010, there were 49.01% of the total population is male and 50.98% of the total population is female. In 2009, the gender ratio was 99.5 males to 100 females.

(Source: UN, National Statistics)

In 2009, 46% of the population aged below 14 years old, whereas there was 3% of the population with people aged 65 years old and above.

(Source: World Bank, World Bank)

In 2008, Zambia's the under-five infant mortality rate was 148 (per 1000).

In 2010, the average life expectancy at birth in Zambia was 47.3 years. The life expectancy for females and males was 45.6 years and 44.6 years respectively.

(Source: UNDP, UN)

Zambia's crude birth rate in 2009 was 42%.

(Source: UNICEF)

In 2010, 35.7% of the population lived in urban area. While in 2009, the country’s rural population was 8.33 million and urban population was 4.59 million.

(Source: UNDP page 182, World Bank, World Bank)

In Zambia, there are more than 70 ethnic groups.

(Source: state.gov)

The country ranked 150^th out of 169 countries on the human development index 2010 conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: health(measured by life expectancy), education (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and living standard( measured by gross national income per capita).

(Source: UNDP)

Education/literacy rate

Adult literacy rate was 71.4% in 2010.

(Source: UNDP)

Education system

Education system in Zambia includes:

•          early childhood education
•          basic education
•          high School education
•          college and university education

The combined gross enrolment ratio in 2010 was 63.3%. The expenditure on education in 2008 was 1.4% of the GDP.

(Source: Ministry of Education, UNDP)

Healthcare resources

The Ministry of Health provides the citizens with quality healthcare, affordable health services, and good access to healthcare.

The health facilities include hospitals, health centres and health posts. The hospitals are divided into three levels: level 1 hospitals or the primary level hospital at the district level; Level 2 hospitals or secondary hospitals at the provincial level and Level 3 hospitals  pr tertiary hospital at the central level. Furthermore, health centres are divided into urban and rural health centres.

45% of the population is undernourished. In 2007, the expenditure on health occupied 3.6% of the GDP.

(Source: Ministry of Health, UNDP)

The mass public transport in Zambia are roads, railways and airways. The total roadway length is 91,440 km.

(Source:bymap)

Airports

There are 68 airports in the country. Some of the major airports are:

(Source:aircraft-charter-world)

Telecommunications networks

In 2010, the total number of internet users was 816,700 and the internet penetration was 6.8% of the population .

(Source: internetworldstats.com)

Mobile cellular subscriptions and fixed telephone lines

(Source:internetworldstats.com, ITU, ITU)