In economics, the current account balance is an essential indicator that provides information on a nation's state of economy, position in international commerce, and general financial soundness.
It is made up of several parts that represent a country's dealings with the outside world, including commerce, investment revenue, and transfer payments.
According to the World Economic Forum, a country's current account balance tracks the amount of money it has coming in and going out.
To elaborate, the current account balance is a part of a country's balance of payments, a comprehensive record of all economic transactions between that country and the rest of the world over a specific period, usually a year.
According to the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Output report, the total of absolute surpluses and deficits in the world's current account balances was predicted to reduce in 2023 after rising significantly in 2022.
The conflict in Ukraine led to a widening of the trade balances for oil and other commodities, which in turn generated a rise in current account balances in 2022.
With that said below are the 10 African countries with the highest balance of money going in and out of its economy in 2023.
| Rank | Country | Current account balance (% of GDP) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Libya | 21.3 |
| 2. | Eswatini | 6.3 |
| 3. | Democratic Republic of Congo | 4.0 |
| 4. | Zambia | 3.8 |
| 5. | Angola | 3.1 |
| 6. | Algeria | 2.9 |
| 7. | South Sudan | 2.3 |
| 8. | Zimbabwe | 0.9 |
| 9. | Botswana | 0.8 |
| 10. | Nigeria | 0.7 |
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