External balance on goods and services as a percent of GDP in Cape Verde
Cape Verde: External balance on goods and services as a percent of GDP was -11.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising
External balance on goods and services as a percent of GDP in Cape Verde, 1980–2025
Source: National statistical organizations and central banks, OECD national accounts, and World Bank staff estimates (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Cape Verde recorded -11.4% for external balance on goods and services as a percent of gdp in 2025.
That represents a change of up 1.4% on the previous year and up 3.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, external balance on goods and services as a percent of gdp in Cape Verde peaked at -10.2% in 2019 and was at its lowest, -57.8%, in 1986.
Cape Verde ranks 135th of 191 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 46 years of available data.
External balance on goods and services as a percent of GDP in Cape Verde, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | -49.9% | — |
| 1981 | -49.2% | -1.4% |
| 1982 | -56.3% | +14.3% |
| 1983 | -53.2% | -5.5% |
| 1984 | -54.9% | +3.3% |
| 1985 | -56.5% | +2.9% |
| 1986 | -57.8% | +2.3% |
| 1987 | -47.6% | -17.6% |
| 1988 | -42.8% | -10.2% |
| 1989 | -43.0% | +0.5% |
| 1990 | -51.7% | +20.2% |
| 1991 | -47.8% | -7.5% |
| 1992 | -49.4% | +3.2% |
| 1993 | -33.8% | -31.6% |
| 1994 | -41.5% | +22.7% |
| 1995 | -43.2% | +4.3% |
| 1996 | -35.1% | -18.8% |
| 1997 | -31.1% | -11.4% |
| 1998 | -36.3% | +16.7% |
| 1999 | -39.0% | +7.5% |
| 2000 | -33.5% | -14.1% |
| 2001 | -32.5% | -2.9% |
| 2002 | -36.0% | +10.6% |
| 2003 | -36.0% | +0.1% |
| 2004 | -37.6% | +4.2% |
| 2005 | -28.8% | -23.3% |
| 2006 | -27.6% | -4.3% |
| 2007 | -26.7% | -3.0% |
| 2008 | -22.3% | -16.6% |
| 2009 | -22.4% | +0.4% |
| 2010 | -25.0% | +11.6% |
| 2011 | -24.8% | -0.7% |
| 2012 | -15.7% | -36.6% |
| 2013 | -11.1% | -29.2% |
| 2014 | -16.8% | +50.9% |
| 2015 | -11.7% | -30.2% |
| 2016 | -12.4% | +5.9% |
| 2017 | -15.9% | +28.0% |
| 2018 | -14.1% | -11.2% |
| 2019 | -10.2% | -27.9% |
| 2020 | -27.8% | +172.8% |
| 2021 | -29.8% | +7.0% |
| 2022 | -19.6% | -34.0% |
| 2023 | -16.5% | -16.1% |
| 2024 | -11.5% | -29.9% |
| 2025 | -11.4% | -1.5% |
Cape Verde compared with similar countries
- Cape Verde's -11.4% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is -4.0%, 2.8× the median. (52 countries reporting)
- Cape Verde's -11.4% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is -6.9%, 1.7× the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where External balance on goods and services as a percent of GDP in Cape Verde 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | -172.8% | -10.2% | -27.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | -51.1% | -57.8% | -42.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | -40.9% | -51.7% | -31.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | -30.3% | -37.6% | -22.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | -15.8% | -25.0% | -10.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | -19.4% | -29.8% | -11.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Cape Verde
More economy & growth data for Cape Verde
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, annual growth rate 300.47 % change on previous year (2025)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, per capita 0.7172 units per person (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, annual growth rate 281.36 % change on previous year (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, per capita 0.5237 units per person (2025)
- IMF holdings of currency, US dollar, annual growth rate 4.54 % change on previous year (2025)
- IMF holdings of currency, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0089 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- IMF holdings of currency, US dollar, per capita 51.68 units per person (2025)
- IMF holdings of currency, SDR, annual growth rate -0.4522 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is external balance on goods and services as a percent of gdp in Cape Verde?
- External balance on goods and services as a percent of gdp in Cape Verde was -11.4% in 2025, according to National statistical organizations and central banks, OECD national accounts, and World Bank staff estimates (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest external balance on goods and services as a percent of gdp recorded in Cape Verde?
- The highest recorded value was -10.2% in 2019.
- What is the lowest external balance on goods and services as a percent of gdp recorded in Cape Verde?
- The lowest recorded value was -57.8% in 1986.
- How does Cape Verde rank for external balance on goods and services as a percent of gdp?
- Cape Verde ranks 135th out of 191 countries with data for 2025.
- Is external balance on goods and services as a percent of gdp rising or falling in Cape Verde?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Cape Verde data come from?
- The figures come from National statistical organizations and central banks, OECD national accounts, and World Bank staff estimates (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of External balance on goods and services as a percent of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 46 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Exports of goods and services minus imports of goods and services divided by gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.