Country profilesBotswana
Republic of Botswana
BW · BWA · Full profile
Population
2.6million
2025
World Bank, World Development Indicators · SP.POP.TOTL · 2025
GDP
$19.9billion
2025
World Bank, World Development Indicators · NY.GDP.MKTP.CD · 2025
GDP per person
$7,778
2025
World Bank, World Development Indicators · NY.GDP.PCAP.CD · 2025
GDP growth
-0.7%
2025
World Bank, World Development Indicators · NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG · 2025
Inflation
2.7%
2025
World Bank, World Development Indicators · FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG · 2025
Trade
69.5%
2025 · of GDP
World Bank, World Development Indicators · NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS · 2025
| Goods | Value, USD | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pearls, precious stones and metals | $1.3 billion | 18% |
| Mineral fuels | $1.2 billion | 17% |
| Machinery | $621 million | 9% |
| Vehicles | $518 million | 7% |
| Electrical machinery | $420 million | 6% |
| Cereals | $205 million |
| 3% |
Annual merchandise trade reported to UN Comtrade. Partner shares are of the reported total, and a missing reporter year is omitted.
The World Bank records a trade-weighted applied tariff of 3.2% for 2022. That average is not the rate on a shipment. The rate you pay is the HS line in the national schedule. World Bank, tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products
This country applies the SACU common external tariff together with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. The rate is the tariff line for the product code. Southern African Customs Union
The lookup opens the customs schedules the desk already carries. It is not a ruling.
A commercial invoice, a packing list, and a bill of lading or air waybill travel with goods entering Botswana. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement
Add a certificate of origin only when the shipment claims a preferential rate. Without that claim, the most-favoured-nation line applies. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement
The customs declaration is filed with the customs authority of Botswana, usually through a licensed broker and the national single window where one exists. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement
Exports from Botswana carry a commercial invoice and a packing list, plus the transport document issued by the carrier. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement
The export declaration is filed before the goods leave. Permits for controlled goods, including food, minerals and dual-use items, sit with the sector regulator and are separate from this file. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement
Republic of Botswana is the official name of Botswana, in Southern Africa. The capital is Gaborone. The currency is the Pula (BWP).
Botswana is listed here in African Union, SADC and SACU. A bloc is left off when membership is in doubt.
Botswana is landlocked. Seaborne cargo moves through Durban and Walvis Bay. Those are transit ports, not domestic seaports.
Population, output and inflation on this page are the latest World Bank values. Exports, imports and partners are UN Comtrade merchandise figures when the public preview published a row. The currency line uses the European Central Bank reference rate, or the official peg where the currency is fixed.
World Bank merchandise exports were $5.1 billion in 2025. Merchandise imports were $6.4 billion in 2025. These are goods totals, not a forecast. The product and partner tables, when shown, are the UN Comtrade breakdown of the same trade.
The European Central Bank reference feed does not publish the Pula. The currency line names the unit used on invoices. It is not a guessed exchange rate.
| World Bank, World Development Indicators |
| UN Comtrade |
| WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement |
Public figures are reproduced from the source named in the chapter. They can be revised. A profile is not a customs ruling, a legal opinion, or an offer.