Mineral rents
The value of metals and minerals extracted, such as copper, gold, iron ore, nickel and phosphate, minus production costs, as a share of GDP.
The single best measure of how much a country lives off mining, central to Zambia, the DRC, Botswana and South Africa.
Covers a set list of minerals; diamonds and some critical minerals may be under-counted.
Mineral rents: highest in DRC, lowest in Seychelles
Mineral rents, % of GDP. Latest year available, 2021. 16 of 16 countries have data.
Ranked: mineral rentsiWhy it mattersThe single best measure of how much a country lives off mining, central to Zambia, the DRC, Botswana and South Africa.
Click a country to highlight it.
Over time
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Mineral rents against income per person
Each bubble is a SADC country, sized by population. Dashed lines mark the SADC medians. Countries far from the pattern are worth a closer look.
Table
The same figures as the map, for screen readers and copying.| Rank | Country | Value | Year | Five-year change | Grade | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DRC | 28.8% | 2021 | up 26.4 points since 2016 | B | |
| 2 | Zambia | 28.2% | 2021 | up 25.3 points since 2016 | B | |
| 3 | Zimbabwe | 4.2% | 2021 | up 3.3 points since 2016 | B | |
| 4 | Tanzania | 4.0% | 2021 | up 2.6 points since 2016 | B | |
| 5 | South Africa | 3.8% | 2021 | up 2.9 points since 2016 | B | |
| 6 | Namibia | 3.2% | 2021 | up 1.5 point since 2016 | B | |
| 7 | Botswana | 0.2% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B | |
| 8 | Mozambique | 0.1% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B | |
| 9 | Malawi | 0.0% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B | |
| 10 | Angola | 0.0% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B | |
| 11 | Comoros | 0.0% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B | |
| 12 | Eswatini | 0.0% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B | |
| 13 | Lesotho | 0.0% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B | |
| 14 | Madagascar | 0.0% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B | |
| 15 | Mauritius | 0.0% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B | |
| 16 | Seychelles | 0.0% | 2021 | little changed since 2016 | B |