Rank SADC by what matters to you
Choose a lens or set your own weights. Each country is scored 0 to 100 on every input by its rank within SADC, inputs are averaged into pillars, and pillars are weighted into an overall score. Ranks rather than raw values keep one extreme figure, such as hyperinflation, from distorting the rest.
Under this lens Botswana ranks first in SADC with 71 out of 100, ahead of Seychelles (70) and South Africa (66). Scores are relative to SADC, not absolute grades.
| # | Country | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Botswana | 71 | 58 | 38 | 85 | 81 | 73 | 89 |
| 2 | Seychelles | 70 | 38 | 58 | 53 | 97 | 80 | 95 |
| 3 | South Africa | 66 | 89 | 12 | 60 | 88 | 82 | 68 |
| 4 | Mauritius | 64 | 49 | 57 | 31 | 79 | 75 | 95 |
| 5 | Tanzania | 60 | 73 | 85 | 57 | 36 | 58 | 52 |
| 6 | Namibia | 57 | 47 | 43 | 37 | 63 | 71 | 81 |
| 7 | Zambia | 52 | 53 | 72 | 19 | 50 | 57 | 60 |
| 8 | Eswatini | 51 | 36 | 43 | 67 | 60 | 71 | 32 |
| 9 | Lesotho | 45 | 20 | 42 | 55 | 29 | 62 | 61 |
| 10 | Comoros | 41 | 18 | 33 | 81 | 60 | 31 | 25 |
| 11 | Zimbabwe | 41 | 56 | 55 | 47 | 46 | 33 | 9 |
| 12 | Angola | 41 | 78 | 39 | 46 | 28 | 20 | 35 |
| 13 | DRC | 41 | 67 | 78 | 65 | 16 | 18 | 0 |
| 14 | Malawi | 34 | 36 | 38 | 23 | 29 | 26 | 55 |
| 15 | Madagascar | 34 | 38 | 60 | 55 | 12 | 18 | 24 |
| 16 | Mozambique | 33 | 47 | 47 | 16 | 41 | 31 | 19 |
A dash means no recent data for any input in that pillar; the overall score then uses the pillars that do have data, and rows marked “thin data” rest on less than 60% of the weighted inputs. Latest values are used, whatever their year.
Side by side
Pick up to four countries. The best value on each row is marked, where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Indicator | Botswana | Seychelles | South Africa | SADC median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market size | ||||
| US$ | $17.7bn | |||
| people | 19.4m | |||
| US$ | $2,539 | |||
| international $ | $5,471 | |||
| % of population | 42.6% | |||
| % a year | 3.4% | |||
| US$ | $12.4bn | |||
| % a year | 2.9% | |||
| people | 5.4m | |||
| Growth and investment | ||||
| % a year | 3.1% | |||
| % a year | 3.3% | |||
| % of GDP | 19.3% | |||
| % of GDP | 2.0% | |||
| US$ | $846.7m | |||
| Macro stability | ||||
| % a year | 3.6% | |||
| % of GDP | 50.5% | |||
| % of GNI | – | 42.2% | ||
| % of GDP | -3.7% | |||
| months of imports | 4.3 months | |||
| % | 11.1% | |||
| local currency per US$ | 36.30 | |||
| Industries and economic structure | ||||
| % of employment | – | 51.9% | ||
| % of GDP | 8.0% | |||
| % of GDP | 26.1% | |||
| % of GDP | 9.4% | |||
| % of GDP | 50.6% | |||
| US$ | $2.7bn | |||
| US$ | $4.8bn | |||
| US$ | $1.7bn | |||
| US$ | $10.0bn | |||
| % a year | 2.9% | |||
| % a year | 2.1% | |||
| % a year | 3.2% | |||
| % a year | 3.8% | |||
| % of GDP | 4.9% | |||
| % of GDP | 0.0% | |||
| % of GDP | 0.0% | |||
| % of GDP | 0.0% | |||
| % of GDP | 0.1% | |||
| % of GDP | 2.1% | |||
| % of employment | – | 11.5% | ||
| % of employment | – | 36.1% | ||
| US$ | $395.0m | |||
| visitors | 1m | |||
| % of value added | 11.9% | |||
| % of value added | 3.8% | |||
| % of value added | 15.6% | |||
| % of value added | 8.2% | |||
| % of value added | 31.8% | |||
| Trade | ||||
| % of GDP | 33.5% | |||
| % of GDP | 66.0% | |||
| % of merchandise exports | 12.2% | |||
| % of merchandise exports | 1.6% | |||
| % of GDP | -7.7% | |||
| Energy and power | ||||
| % of population | 60.0% | |||
| people | 6.3m | |||
| kWh a year | 516 | |||
| TWh a year | 3.4 TWh | |||
| % of generation | 65.4% | |||
| % of generation | 56.5% | |||
| % of demand | 0.0% | |||
| Infrastructure | ||||
| score 1 to 5 | – | 2.55 | ||
| TEU | – | 334k | ||
| passengers | 275k | |||
| % of population | 75.7% | |||
| % of population | 48.6% | |||
| Digital and financial inclusion | ||||
| % of population | 41.2% | |||
| per 100 people | 101 | |||
| % of adults | – | 59.8% | ||
| people | – | 5.0m | ||
| % of GDP | 1.4% | |||
| people | 3.9m | |||
| % of adults | – | 46.6% | ||
| per 100 people | 0.6 | |||
| Banking and capital markets | ||||
| % of GDP | 18.8% | |||
| per 100,000 adults | 10.7 | |||
| per 100,000 adults | 5.3 | |||
| % of GDP | 27.1% | |||
| companies | 22 | |||
| % of market cap | 1.5% | |||
| US$ | $337k | |||
| People and labour | ||||
| % of population | 58.1% | |||
| % a year | 2.0% | |||
| % of labour force | – | 6.6% | ||
| % of people 15+ | – | 62.6% | ||
| years | 66.4 | |||
| per 1,000 people | 0.28 | |||
| per 1,000 people | 2.40 | |||
| per 1,000 people | 2.0 | |||
| US$ per person | $91 | |||
| % | 12.6% | |||
| births per woman | 3.6 | |||
| % of working-age population | 72.0% | |||
| people per km² | 53.9 | |||
| Governance | ||||
| score (0 to 100) | 40 | |||
| score (0 to 100) | 46 | |||
| score (0 to 100) | 50 | |||
| score (0 to 100) | 37 | |||
| score (0 to 100) | 60 | |||
| score (0 to 100) | 49 | |||
| score (0 to 100) | 43 | |||
| score (0 to 100) | 42 | |||
| % of members | 23.3 | |||
Profiles side by side
Pillar scores for the countries you picked, against the SADC median (dashed). Scores run from 0 to 100 by rank within SADC.
What goes into each pillar
- Gross domestic product
- Population
- GDP per person
- Real GDP growth
- IMF growth forecast
- Gross capital formation
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows
- Consumer price inflation (lower is better)
- General government gross debt (lower is better)
- Foreign reserves
- Current account balance
- External debt (lower is better)
- Access to electricity
- Electricity generation per person
- Logistics Performance Index
- Basic drinking water
- Internet users
- Account ownership
- Mobile money account
- Mobile subscriptions
- Domestic credit to private sector
- Regulatory quality
- Rule of law
- Government effectiveness
- Control of corruption
- Political stability
- People without electricity (more = bigger opportunity)
- Adults without an account (more = bigger opportunity)
- Population growth (more = bigger opportunity)