Domestic credit to private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Domestic credit to private sector was 29.4% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Domestic credit to private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1965–2022
Source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 29.4% for domestic credit to private sector in 2022.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 6.6% on the previous year and down 35.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, domestic credit to private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 55.7% in 2007 and was at its lowest, 20.1%, in 1981.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 37th out of 47 groups with data for 2022, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 57 years of available data.
Domestic credit to private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 23.2% | — |
| 1966 | 22.8% | -1.5% |
| 1967 | 24.8% | +8.6% |
| 1968 | 24.3% | -1.9% |
| 1969 | 24.7% | +1.3% |
| 1970 | 24.9% | +0.8% |
| 1971 | 27.0% | +8.6% |
| 1972 | 25.7% | -5.0% |
| 1973 | 27.1% | +5.6% |
| 1974 | 25.2% | -6.8% |
| 1975 | 25.8% | +2.2% |
| 1976 | 23.5% | -8.9% |
| 1977 | 24.1% | +2.6% |
| 1978 | 25.2% | +4.4% |
| 1979 | 24.5% | -2.9% |
| 1980 | 26.1% | +6.7% |
| 1981 | 20.1% | -22.9% |
| 1982 | 20.7% | +3.0% |
| 1983 | 25.3% | +22.1% |
| 1984 | 26.6% | +5.2% |
| 1985 | 24.3% | -8.9% |
| 1986 | 27.6% | +13.8% |
| 1987 | 31.2% | +12.9% |
| 1988 | 31.7% | +1.7% |
| 1989 | 32.9% | +3.9% |
| 1990 | 33.1% | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 45.8% | +38.1% |
| 1993 | 46.5% | +1.7% |
| 1994 | 49.2% | +5.7% |
| 1995 | 45.2% | -8.1% |
| 1996 | 39.9% | -11.6% |
| 1997 | 39.0% | -2.5% |
| 1998 | 36.7% | -5.9% |
| 1999 | 55.4% | +51.1% |
| 2000 | 51.1% | -7.7% |
| 2001 | 50.2% | -1.8% |
| 2002 | 38.6% | -23.2% |
| 2003 | 46.2% | +19.8% |
| 2004 | 51.5% | +11.5% |
| 2005 | 53.3% | +3.4% |
| 2006 | 55.1% | +3.4% |
| 2007 | 55.7% | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 46.3% | -16.8% |
| 2009 | 49.0% | +5.7% |
| 2010 | 50.4% | +3.0% |
| 2011 | 46.2% | -8.3% |
| 2012 | 45.8% | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 42.5% | -7.2% |
| 2014 | 41.6% | -2.2% |
| 2015 | 41.1% | -1.2% |
| 2016 | 41.9% | +1.9% |
| 2017 | 43.4% | +3.7% |
| 2018 | 39.8% | -8.4% |
| 2019 | 34.4% | -13.5% |
| 2020 | 32.9% | -4.4% |
| 2021 | 31.5% | -4.2% |
| 2022 | 29.4% | -6.6% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Domestic credit to private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | +51.1% | 36.7% | 55.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 24.0% | 22.8% | 24.8% | 5 |
| 1970s | 25.3% | 23.5% | 27.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 26.7% | 20.1% | 32.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 43.4% | 33.1% | 55.4% | 9 |
| 2000s | 49.7% | 38.6% | 55.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 42.7% | 34.4% | 50.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 31.3% | 29.4% | 32.9% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
More financial sector data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.14 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per capita 1.75 units per person (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, annual growth rate 0.1205 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per unit of GDP 0.0008 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per capita 1.28 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.14 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per capita 1.75 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, SDR, annual growth rate 0.1205 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is domestic credit to private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Domestic credit to private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa was 29.4% in 2022, according to International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest domestic credit to private sector recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 55.7% in 2007.
- What is the lowest domestic credit to private sector recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 20.1% in 1981.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for domestic credit to private sector?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 37th out of 47 groups with data for 2022.
- Is domestic credit to private sector rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 35.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
- The figures come from International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 57 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Domestic credit to private sector refers to financial resources provided to the private sector by financial corporations, such as through loans, purchases of nonequity securities, and trade credits and other accounts receivable, that establish a claim for repayment. For some countries these claims include credit to public enterprises. The financial corporations include monetary authorities and deposit money banks, as well as other financial corporations where data are available (including corporations that do not accept transferable deposits but do incur such liabilities as time and savings deposits). Examples of other financial corporations are finance and leasing companies, money lenders, insurance corporations, pension funds, and foreign exchange companies. 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.