Zambia — Country Profile
Population, GDP, natural resources, leaders and history of Zambia: the Magna Factbook country file, with its Magna Power score (--/100, ranked #-- of 195).
Last updated: October 2026
Zambia is in Southern Africa, east of Angola, south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It covers 752,618 sq km. Terrain: mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains. Climate: tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April).
| Capital | Lusaka |
|---|---|
| Population | 22,021,971 (2025 est.) |
| GDP (PPP) | $79.207 billion (2024 est.) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $3,700 (2024 est.) |
| Real GDP growth | 4% (2024 est.) |
| Inflation | 15% (2024 est.) |
| Unemployment | 6% (2024 est.) |
| Public debt | 71.4% of GDP (2021 est.) |
| Exports | $11.454 billion (2023 est.) |
| Imports | $10.854 billion (2023 est.) |
| Life expectancy | 66.9 years (2024 est.) |
| Median age | 19 years (2025 est.) |
| Urbanization | 46.3% of total population (2023) |
| Government | presidential republic |
| Independence | 24 October 1964 (from the UK) |
| Languages | Bemba 33.4%, Nyanja 14.7%, Tonga 11.4%, Lozi 5.5%, Chewa 4.5%, Nsenga 2.9%, Tumbuka 2.5%, Lunda (North Western) 1.9%, Kaonde 1.8%, Lala 1.8%, Lamba 1.8%, English (official) 1.7%, Luvale 1.5%, Mambwe 1.3%, Namwanga 1.2%, Lenje 1.1%, Bisa 1%, other 9.7%, unspecified 0.2% (2010 est.) |
Zambia’s GDP is $79.207 billion (2024 est.) in purchasing-power-parity terms. At official exchange rates it stands at $26.326 billion (2024 est.). Real GDP grew 4% (2024 est.). See where Zambia ranks among all 195 countries by GDP.
POWER --/100 — The Magna Power score is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — nine components, 135 indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.
Momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
An uneventful quarter, recorded without embellishment: no breakthrough to celebrate, no setback to mourn.
The longer forces — demographics, trade routes, regional balances — kept doing what they do, and the country rode them steadily.
- What drags it down: graded on patchy data (89% complete) — read the score as an order of magnitude; a median age of 19 — a nation of children, its workforce still in the classroom
Copper, Cobalt, Zinc, Lead, Coal, Gold, Silver, Uranium, Hydropower.
Energy is the physical base of economic power — what a country can generate, move and burn decides what it can build, sell and defend.
| Electricity access | 47.8% (2022 est.) |
|---|---|
| Installed capacity mix (CIA) | fossil fuels: 11% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 0.8% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 87.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) |
| Energy consumption per capita (CIA) | 8.265 million Btu/person (2023 est.) |
Sources: CIA World Factbook, Energy section; Our World in Data (IEA/Ember), 2024.
Trade shows what the world buys from a country and what the country must buy from the world — the balance between the two is a direct measure of economic leverage.
| Exports | $11.454 billion (2023 est.) |
|---|---|
| Imports | $10.854 billion (2023 est.) |
| Trade balance (calculated) | Surplus of $600.0 million (2023), calculated from the CIA export and import figures above. |
| Key industries | copper mining and processing, emerald mining, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, fertilizer, horticulture |
Source: CIA World Factbook, Economy section.
Hakainde Hichilema — President. President Hakainde HICHILEMA (since 24 August 2021)
Zambia maintains 35 embassies and 6 consulates abroad, hosts 41 foreign diplomatic missions, holds permanent missions to UN New York, AU Addis Ababa. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.
| Embassies abroad | 35 |
|---|---|
| Consulates abroad | 6 |
| Foreign missions hosted | 41 |
| Multilateral missions | UN New York, AU Addis Ababa |
Source: Consular Affairs Center, Diplomatic and Consular Networks Database and Rankings, January 2026 (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0). https://zenodo.org/records/18109976
Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.
| Sea access | Landlocked — no seacoast; exports move through transit corridors across neighbouring countries. |
|---|---|
| Airports (total) | 120 + 4 heliports (registration prefix 9J) |
| Railways | 3126 km |
| Pipelines | 771 km oil (2013) |
Major airports
Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport (LVI) — Livingstone; Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (LUN) — Lusaka; Mfuwe International Airport (MFU) — Mfuwe; Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport (NLA) — Ndola.
Terminals
| River ports | Mpulungu (Zambezi) |
|---|
Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28); theodora.com CIA mirror (CIA World Factbook Transportation section), scraped 2026-10-02
| Political system | presidential republic |
|---|---|
| Next election | No election currently scheduled. |
POWER --/100 Ranked #-- of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for Zambia.
This profile covers the population, economy, natural resources, leaders, and history of Zambia — with the Bureau’s live national-power score of --/100, ranking #-- of 195 countries.
What is Zambia's power score?
Zambia has a Magna Power score of --/100. The score measures structural power — the proven capacity to shape events — across nine components.