Every figure below carries its named source and year. The Eco Index scores twelve pillars on the same scale everywhere; seven are measured from published data with fixed thresholds, five are assessed from the named sources.
Zambia at a Glance.
The score, and the four numbers that set the tone. 12 equally-weighted pillars, every pillar sourced.
Compare with:
Renewable power
88%
of electricity
Food imported
8%
of merchandise imports · ~US$1,031m a year
The Eco Index across 12 pillars · scored 0 to 5 · World Bank, OWID, WHO/UNICEF JMP, FiBL, Protected Planet, IUCN, UNESCO (2023-24)
Water
Food & farming
Plant-based
Organic
Conservation
Wildlife
Materials
Pollution
Recycling
Energy
Culture
Heritage
Facts That Surprise People About Zambia.
The numbers and firsts that change how you see Zambia, the sobering and the remarkable. Every one is dated and linked to its source.
SoberingEnvironment
Drought drained Kariba to 4.1% of usable water
In December 2022, Zambia's energy minister told parliament that Lake Kariba had fallen to 4.1% of usable storage for power generation, forcing electricity rationing for homes. Kariba is the main power source for both Zambia and Zimbabwe.
SoberingHealth
86% of people with diabetes do not know it
The IDF estimates 10.3% of Zambian adults aged 20 to 79 had diabetes in 2024, up from 4.8% in 2011. An estimated 86% of them are undiagnosed, and the number with diabetes is projected to almost triple to 2.1 million by 2050.
Source: IDF Diabetes Atlas, Zambia country data · 2024
SoberingFood
Around 4 in 10 people are undernourished
World Bank data, drawing on FAO estimates, put the prevalence of undernourishment in Zambia at 41% of the population in 2024.
SoberingFood
A third of young children are stunted
The 2024 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey found 32% of children under five were stunted, down from 40% in 2013 to 2014. In Luapula province the figure was 45%.
Source: The DHS Program and ZamStats, 2024 Zambia DHS Factsheet · 2024
RemarkableNature
The largest curtain of falling water in the world
UNESCO describes Mosi-oa-Tunya, or Victoria Falls, as the largest curtain of falling water in the world: about 1,708 m wide, with up to 500 million litres a minute plunging up to 99 m. Zambia and Zimbabwe share the World Heritage site, listed in 1989.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls · 1989
Worth knowingNature
A rainforest made by waterfall spray
The spray plume from Victoria Falls rises up to about 500 m and can be seen from 30 km away on the Lusaka road. It feeds a fragile riverine rainforest in the splash zone, and the gorges below are breeding sites for endangered birds such as the Taita falcon.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls · 1989
Worth knowingNature
Forest still covers about 60% of the land
World Bank data put Zambia's forest area at 60.5% of its land in 2024.
Source: World Bank, Forest area (% of land area), Zambia · 2024
Worth knowingEnvironment
Most electricity comes from falling water
Hydropower produced about 78% of Zambia's electricity in 2024, according to World Bank data. That makes the country's power supply largely renewable, but highly exposed to drought.
The History of Zambia.
Zambia sustains a calendar of living traditional ceremonies that remain central to community and spiritual life. At Kuomboka the Lozi king, the Litunga, moves from his palace on the flooded Zambezi plain to his palace on higher ground, while at Nc'wala the Ngoni honour their ancestral spirits and give thanks for the first fruits of the harvest.
Where the name comes from
For the Zambezi, from a Tonga name for the river. From 1911 to 1964 it was Northern Rhodesia; it took its own name at independence. Source: UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names toponymic factfile.
The land itself: a high plateau across most of the country, with hills and mountains along its edges. Its high point is Mafinga Central, 2,330 m. Source: Survey Department, the national mapping agency, with the UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names.
Where it starts
Wood that should not have survived
Two logs, joined by a deliberately cut notch, were preserved in waterlogged deposits at Kalambo Falls. They are at least 476,000 years old and are the earliest structural use of wood found in the archaeological record. The same deposits held a wedge, a digging stick, a cut log and a notched branch from 390,000 to 324,000 years ago. The Kabwe skull, found at the Broken Hill mine in 1921, is directly dated to about 299,000 years ago. It is still held in London, and Zambia has asked for its return since 1972.
How it got here
Kingdoms, then copper
Peoples who traced their origins to Kola, among them the Lunda, Luba and Bemba, founded kingdoms with their own courts, and their ceremonies still re-enact those migrations. The British South Africa Company, chartered in 1889, took control in the 1890s, and its two territories north of the Zambezi were united in 1911 as Northern Rhodesia. Independence came on 24 October 1964.
The timeline
c. 476,000 years ago
Kalambo Falls.
Two logs joined crosswise by an intentionally cut notch, preserved in waterlogged deposits at Kalambo Falls, are the earliest evidence of structural use of wood found in the archaeological record. Source
c. 390,000 to 324,000 years ago
Wooden tools.
The same waterlogged deposits preserved four wood tools, a wedge, a digging stick, a cut log and a notched branch. Source
c. 299,000 years ago
The Kabwe skull.
A skull found at the Broken Hill mine in 1921 is directly dated to about 299,000 years ago. It is held at the Natural History Museum in London, and Zambia first asked for its return in 1972. Source
Stone Age
The Zambezi and its people.
Stone tools from the Middle and Late Stone Age, with weapons, ornaments and digging tools, show that hunter-gatherers lived beside the Zambezi around Victoria Falls. Source
First millennium AD
Farming and iron.
Early Iron Age communities spread across what is now Zambia, bringing pot-making and metalworking, and probably farming, with regional styles of pottery. Source
13th to 15th century
Ingombe Ilede.
A trading settlement on a hill near the meeting of the Zambezi and Lusitu rivers, whose chief item of trade was salt. It flowered from the 13th to the 15th century, and finds there include textiles, copper ore, ceramics and gold. Source
16th century onward
Kingdoms of the plateau.
Peoples from the Luba and Lunda empires to the north arrive and set up small kingdoms across what is now Zambia. Source
1890s
British South Africa Company rule.
The British South Africa Company, chartered in 1889, takes control of the lands north of the Zambezi. Its two territories there were joined in 1911 as Northern Rhodesia. Source
Late 1920s onward
The Copperbelt.
Large-scale copper mining begins on the Copperbelt, and towns such as Kitwe, Ndola and Mufulira grow into the country's economic hubs, drawing workers from rural areas. Source
1964
Independence.
Northern Rhodesia becomes independent as Zambia on 24 October 1964. Source
Livingstone Museum, History Gallery · Nature, Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago · Nature, Dating the skull from Broken Hill, Zambia, and its position in human evolution · The Art Newspaper, Zambia claims Rhodesian Man skull at London's Natural History Museum · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls · Journal of African History, The Early Iron Age in Zambia, Regional Variants and some Tentative Conclusions · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Tentative List, Ing'ombe Ilede · BBC News, Zambia profile timeline · Cambridge History of Africa, British Central Africa · World Bank, Copper Mining in Zambia, Regulatory Efficiency Assessment · National Assembly of Zambia, About Parliament · UNESCO open data, World Heritage List, Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls · Zambia Tourism Agency, Ing'ombe Ilede · US Office of the Historian, Zambia · The DHS Program API, Zambia stunting
Nature and Biodiversity in Zambia.
Zambia protects about 41.3% of its land (World Bank, 2025) through vast national parks such as Kafue, one of Africa's largest, plus South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi, and a ring of Game Management Areas. The headline figure is undercut by funding: many Game Management Areas are under resourced and poaching remains a real pressure, so paper coverage exceeds effective protection.
Is wild Zambia protected? 41.3% of the land is, already past the 30% target for 2030
How protected is nature in Zambia?
Forest cover60.5%
Terrestrial protected area41.3%
148 listed as threatened.
Found only here. Kafue lechwe, black lechwe and Thornicroft's giraffe; the Bangweulu shoebill
The watchlist
ThreatenedAfrican elephant (Loxodonta africana) Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Zambia in GBIF occurrence data (mammal), with the species named and its Red List assessment linked.
ThreatenedGyps africanus Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Zambia in GBIF occurrence data (bird), with the species named and its Red List assessment linked.
ThreatenedLycaon pictus Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Zambia in GBIF occurrence data (mammal), with the species named and its Red List assessment linked.
ThreatenedNecrosyrtes monachus Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Zambia in GBIF occurrence data (bird), with the species named and its Red List assessment linked.
ThreatenedTrigonoceps occipitalis Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Zambia in GBIF occurrence data (bird), with the species named and its Red List assessment linked.
ThreatenedBateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus) Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Zambia in GBIF occurrence data (bird), with the species named and its Red List assessment linked.
ThreatenedBalearica regulorum Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Zambia in GBIF occurrence data (bird), with the species named and its Red List assessment linked.
What is still here, and what is gone?
Tap a species for the honest status.
Closest to being lost, by name
Gyps africanus
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Zambia, with the species named and its Red List assessment linked. GBIF holds 358 verified occurrence records.
Necrosyrtes monachus
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Zambia, with the species named and its Red List assessment linked. GBIF holds 178 verified occurrence records.
Trigonoceps occipitalis
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Zambia, with the species named and its Red List assessment linked. GBIF holds 46 verified occurrence records.
Species named here are drawn from GBIF occurrence records for Zambia filtered to the IUCN Red List threatened categories. Species are listed where GBIF holds occurrence records for them in this country. Record counts are not published here because the figure cannot be reproduced from a public GBIF query.
Who is putting it back
National park in Southern Province, mapped and named in the open record for Zambia. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Muchinga Province, mapped and named in the open record for Zambia. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Southern Province, mapped and named in the open record for Zambia. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Western Province, mapped and named in the open record for Zambia. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Northern Province, mapped and named in the open record for Zambia. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Lusaka Province, mapped and named in the open record for Zambia. OpenStreetMap.
Water and Ocean in Zambia.
Zambia is exceptionally water rich on paper, with the Zambezi, Kafue and Luangwa rivers, Lake Tanganyika, the huge Kariba reservoir, the Bangweulu wetlands and Victoria Falls. Access is the weak point: about 73% of people have at least basic drinking water (World Bank and JMP, 2024), safely managed coverage is lower, and tap water is generally unsafe. Heavy reliance on Kariba hydro also left supply exposed during the 2024 drought.
Does Zambia have enough fresh water? Yes, with headroom
Bottled water; treat all drinking water on safari.
Cleanest water: Lake Tanganyika and the upper Zambezi
How much fresh water does Zambia have, per person?
3,980 m³
Zambia
1,000 m³
the UN “water scarce” line
Zambia withdraws about 1,572 million cubic metres of fresh water a year (2022). That is 2.8% of the fresh water actually available to it, which FAO counts as no water stress. Of what is taken, farming takes 73%, homes and towns 18%, industry 8%. Source: FAO AQUASTAT.
Where does the sewage go?
37.5%
of people have at least basic sanitation
37.5% of people here use at least a basic toilet not shared with other households (2024, World Bank / WHO UNICEF JMP). No figure is published for how much of that waste is safely treated, so the share reaching the ground or the water untreated is unknown.
Is the tap water safe in Zambia?
Town water in Zambia comes from 11 commercial utilities regulated by NWASCO, which reached about 7.8 million people, or 81.7 per cent of the urban population, in 2025. Utilities must promise 95 per cent compliance with the national drinking water standard, but NWASCO's 2025 sector report says only two of the 11 met that target. Lusaka Water and Sanitation Company had chlorine failures in Lusaka, Kafue, Chongwe and Luangwa and cloudy water in most of its networks, and the Copperbelt's Nkana utility had chlorine failures that also hurt its bacterial results. Supply averaged about 15.4 hours a day, with power cuts a main cause. Given these failures, boil, filter or treat tap water before drinking it, or drink bottled water.
How hard is the water supply being pushed?
Of every 10 buckets nature refills, 0 are already taken. Withdrawals run at 2.8% of what Zambia renews internally each year (2022, World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT). That is inside the 25% mark generally treated as water stress, so the supply has headroom.
When is the best time to visit Zambia? Tap your month.
Tap your month.
How much fresh water does Zambia actually have?
Nature renews about 3,980 cubic metres of fresh water per person per year here. That ranks Zambia 127 of 208 countries measured, putting it in the wetter half of the world. The UN treats anything under 1,000 cubic metres as water scarce, and this is above that line. World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT.
Food and Drink in Zambia.
Farming employs about 55% of Zambian workers (World Bank, 2025), and the harvest depends on the rains. The drought-reduced 2024 harvest pushed cereal import needs to a peak in 2024 to 2025, and after a good season Zambia is expected to return to being a net maize exporter in 2025 to 2026 (FAO GIEWS).
Where does the food in Zambia come from?
7.8% imported
about US$1,031m a year
On the plate: Nshima (maize meal), beans, groundnuts, cooked greens such as rape and pumpkin leaves, sweet potato and cassava
1 of 10
bites are imported
The island buys in more food energy than it eats. About US$1,031m a year leaves the country to pay for it. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
Food is 7.8% of everything Zambia imports (2024, World Bank). Farming itself is 4.1% of the economy and 32.1% of the land is agricultural, of which 5.1% is arable. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
What is killing people in Zambia? The imported diet.
Cause of death, and the diet behind it.
Non-communicable diseases, all combined31.2%
Diabetes10.3%
We found no official national count. A University of Zambia study of 80 patients who had a major limb amputation at the University Teaching Hospitals adult hospital in Lusaka found that diabetic foot disease was the most common reason, behind 36 of them, or 45 per cent. Trauma accounted for only 11.3 per cent. Source: Nakazwe, University of Zambia thesis, 2020.
Adults living with overweight or obesity. 29.9%.
Can Zambia feed itself?
5.1%
Arable land
32.1%
Agricultural land
4,368,486
Farmers
9,389,990
Arable acres
4.1%
Agriculture, share of GDP
Harvest: Maize harvest April to July after the November to April rains
Feeding itself
Farming underpins the economy and Zambia is usually self sufficient in its maize staple, nshima, sometimes exporting surplus to neighbours. Production is dominated by smallholders, but the system is narrow and rain dependent, and the 2024 drought turned a normal surplus into an emergency maize deficit.
Certification
Certified organic farmland is negligible, around 0.003% of agricultural land (FiBL, 2020). As across much of the region, many smallholders farm with few synthetic inputs out of necessity, but almost none of this is certified organic.
Water for crops
Zambia is exceptionally water rich on paper, with the Zambezi, Kafue and Luangwa rivers, Lake Tanganyika, the huge Kariba reservoir, the Bangweulu wetlands and Victoria Falls. Access is the weak point: about 73% of people have at least basic drinking water (World Bank and JMP, 2024), safely managed coverage is lower, and tap water is generally unsafe.
Why the organic number looks like that. Certification covers only part of what is grown cleanly, so a small certified share is a gap in the paperwork rather than proof that nothing is. What the official land record does show: 32.1% of the country is agricultural land and 5.1% is arable (2023, World Bank). Certification is paid for per farm per year by a foreign body, which prices out smallholders, so the organic number reads worse than the practice.
What actually grows here
SugarcaneCassavaMaizeSoybeansVegetablesWheatGroundnutsSweet potatoes
The food that already fits
The plant-based kitchen here is not an import. By tonnage, the largest crops grown in Zambia are sugarcane, cassava and maize (FAO, FAOSTAT crop production, 2024). That is what the land itself puts on a plate.
Buy direct where residents buy: Freedom Market, Game Market, Gondwe Market, Ikelenge Market, Jack Public Market, Kabanana Market. Each is a mapped, named marketplace, so the money stays with the seller rather than the importer. OpenStreetMap.
Not yet checked by us. Plant based kitchens listed publicly: Govinda's, vegetarian restaurant in Lusaka (Benakale Road, off Great East Road): sattvic Indian and Western vegetarian food with vegan options; Bite and Basket, vegetarian restaurant in Lusaka (Chindo Road): Indian, Chinese and international dishes, some naturally vegan; DYSC Cafe, vegetarian café in Lusaka (Kafue Road): pizza, juices and many clearly labelled vegan dishes and plant milks, inside a yoga studio; Wiseapple Coffee, vegetarian café in Lusaka (Ibex Hill): salads, wraps and lentil bolognese that are or can be made vegan. Tell us how they are.
Is this grown in Zambia?
Tap a food for the honest answer.
BeansGroundnutsCooked greens such as rapePumpkin leavesSweet potatoCassava
World Bank Open Data · FAO, FAOSTAT crop production · World Health Organization · FAO AQUASTAT · HappyCow, Lusaka listings · Nakazwe M, Indications and short term outcomes of major limb amputations at the University Teaching Hospitals adult and emergency hospital, Lusaka, Zambia (University of Zambia thesis, 2020), African Digital Health Library · FAO GIEWS Country Brief, Zambia · World Bank, Employment in agriculture, Zambia
Climate and Energy in Zambia.
Zambia's electricity is overwhelmingly renewable, with hydropower supplying roughly 84 per cent of generation, chiefly from the Kafue Gorge and Kariba stations. Emissions per person are very low at around 0.54 tonnes of CO2 a year, among the lowest in the world. The country's NDC 3.0, submitted in 2025, pledges to cut emissions by 25 per cent unconditionally and up to 47 per cent with international support by 2030, anchored in the National Policy on Climate Change and Vision 2030. Severe drought has recently cut Kariba output and exposed the grid's dependence on rainfall, prompting a pivot towards solar. On balance Zambia is a very low emitter running on clean power with credible policy.
What powers Zambia?
Renewable 87.5%Fossil 12.5%
ZESCO, a state owned utility, runs Zambia's government owned power stations and the national transmission and distribution networks. Its hydropower stations have more than 2,900 MW of capacity. The Energy Regulation Board (ERB) licenses the sector and approves tariffs. On 14 February 2025 the energy minister launched an open access framework, under Statutory Instrument 40 of 2024, that gives private power companies access to the national transmission and distribution networks. Between January and November 2025 the ERB approved 60 power purchase agreements and 16 power supply agreements. In October 2025 it let ZESCO replace its emergency tariffs, which cut the highest residential rate by 46 per cent, from K6.39 to K3.45 per kWh, from 1 November 2025.
Climate pollution per person
The safe amount, what the planet can absorb
2 tonnes
One person here
0.54 tonnes
The world average, for comparison
4.7 tonnes
The worst it ever got
0.97 tonnes
The grid
Zambia's electricity is overwhelmingly renewable, with hydropower supplying roughly 84 per cent of generation, chiefly from the Kafue Gorge and Kariba stations. Emissions per person are very low at around 0.54 tonnes of CO2 a year, among the lowest in the world.
Pollution
The national PM2.5 annual mean is moderate, around 20 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2023), and Zambia has banned thin single use plastic bags, though enforcement is patchy. The bigger issue is severe localised pollution: copper smelting on the Copperbelt and the notorious legacy lead contamination at Kabwe, one of the most polluted places on Earth.
Water stress
Zambia is exceptionally water rich on paper, with the Zambezi, Kafue and Luangwa rivers, Lake Tanganyika, the huge Kariba reservoir, the Bangweulu wetlands and Victoria Falls. Access is the weak point: about 73% of people have at least basic drinking water (World Bank and JMP, 2024), safely managed coverage is lower, and tap water is generally unsafe.
What pollutes most here
1The grid The share of electricity still generated from fossil fuel.8%
2Industry Copperbelt smelting and the lead contaminated town of Kabwe.named
3Air Modelled annual mean against a WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.20.2
4On the record The national PM2.5 annual mean is moderate, around 20 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2023), and Zambia has banned thin single use plastic bags, though enforcement is patchy.
What has Zambia promised on climate?
Electricity renewable today92% (2021)
Land protected, against a 30% target41.3% by 2025
Measured on delivery, 92% of electricity is already renewable (2021, World Bank), so 8% of the grid is still to be converted. The pledge on file is measured here against what has actually been delivered, not taken on its own (UNFCCC NDC Registry, CBD Kunming-Montreal Target 3).
The biggest line item
One return flight against a whole year of living.
A resident's entire year0.54 t CO2e
Safe-climate budget, per year2 t CO2e
Los Angeles return, economy2.9 t CO2e
New York return, economy2.18 t CO2e
Sydney return, economy2.14 t CO2e
Singapore return, economy1.54 t CO2e
London return, economy1.43 t CO2e
How much CO2 does flying to Zambia emit?
Tap where you would fly from. One return flight, economy.
Firsts on climate finance. The African Risk Capacity Group, the African Union's disaster insurer, paid Zambia US$5.3 million in June 2022 after drought in the 2021/2022 farming season. After the 2023/2024 drought it paid US$9,979,140 to the government and US$3,326,320 to the World Food Programme in June 2024. In January 2024 CEC Renewables, part of Copperbelt Energy Corporation, listed Zambia's debut green bond on the Lusaka Securities Exchange, a US$54 million first tranche of a US$200 million programme for renewable energy; the company says it was the first to issue a green bond in Zambia. In September 2026 Zanaco launched a US$100 million sustainability bond programme, which the Lusaka Securities Exchange called the first sustainability bond issued by a Zambian bank.
Climate Watch (WRI) · UNFCCC NDC Registry · World Bank Open Data · UK DESNZ greenhouse gas conversion factors · US International Trade Administration, Zambia Country Commercial Guide: Energy · Energy Regulation Board, End of year press statement by the Director General, 24 December 2025 · Artemis, Zambia's ARC parametric drought insurance to pay out US$5.3m · African Risk Capacity, ARC Group makes US$13.3 million climate insurance payouts to the Government of Zambia · Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Successful listing of Zambia's first green bond on the LuSE · Africa Sustainability Matters, Zanaco launches $100 million sustainability bond programme
AI and Data Centres in Zambia.
Every prompt runs on a machine in a building on somebody’s grid. What that costs the planet depends less on the prompt than on what is burning to power it. Here is what would power one in Zambia.
Data centres
5
Registered colocation and interconnection facilities, PeeringDB, 2026
Grid renewable
87.5 %
What a machine here runs on.
What powers a data centre in Zambia?
Running AI here is about as clean as it currently gets.
Renewable 87.5%Fossil 12.5%
Cooling water. Every one of those halls runs on the national grid, which is 92% renewable today (World Bank). A data centre is only as clean as the electricity behind it, so the same figure that decides this country's climate score also decides the footprint of the AI running inside it. Cooling water use is not separately published by facility, and no operator here reports it.
The rules. Zambia has 5 colocation and interconnection facilities on the public PeeringDB register, concentrated in Lusaka (4), Kitwe (1), alongside 1 internet exchange (Lusaka Internet Exchange Point). Named sites include NetOne Data Lusaka, INFRATEL Data Centre, Production Centre, INFRATEL Data Centre, Backup Facility, INFRATEL Data Centre, Disaster Recovery.
Economy and Tourism in Zambia.
95% residents to 5% visitors across a year. 1,266,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 21,913,874 people who live here (2025, World Bank / UN Tourism).
Where a visitor dollar goes in Zambia
502k
Visitors a year
0.0
Visitors per resident
How deep in debt is Zambia?· for every $100 Zambia earns in a year, it owes…
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · the 2000 peak
$ 261The worst year on the IMF record. Zambia owed $261 for every $100 it earned.
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2000signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · today
$ 86What is owed now, for every $100 of national income (2025).
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2025signed, the creditors
For every $100 Zambia earns in a year, it owes $86 (2025, IMF World Economic Outlook). The interest on that is paid before schools, clinics or coastline get their turn.
Where does a tourist dollar actually go in Zambia?
Play one tourist dollar around the board. Every square is a measured fact from this page.
START!
1
GO: a visitor lands
$100 goes on the table. 1,266,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 21,913,874 residents, one visitor a year for every 17 residents (World Bank / UN Tourism).
$100 in play2
The bed
Who owns the largest places to stay in Zambia is not published in the records we can check, so this square is left open rather than guessed. Where a listing names its owner, it is shown in the ownership table below.
not published3
The plate
Food is only 7.8% of everything Zambia imports (2024, World Bank), so most of a meal is bought from producers inside the country. Eating what the land here actually grows, sugarcane, cassava, maize, soybeans, vegetables, wheat, groundnuts, sweet potatoes, keeps that money with the grower.
mostly home-grown4
The power
92% of the electricity is renewable (2021, World Bank), so the energy on the bill is mostly generated inside the country rather than shipped in.
made at home5
What actually stays
Of the two parts of a visitor's bill that can be measured here, the plate and the power stay inside Zambia. This is not an economy where a visitor's money drains away, and the board is shorter for it.
most of it6
Pay the bank first
Zambia owes $86 for every $100 it earns (2025, IMF World Economic Outlook). The interest is paid before anything else on this board.
$86 per $1007
No plan B
64.5% of everything Zambia sells abroad is copper (2023, UN Comtrade). One market moving takes the whole board with it.
64.5% one export8
The flight
Getting here is usually the biggest single line on the bill. From Los Angeles a return economy seat is 2.90 t CO2, on the UK Government's published conversion factors. It is the one part of the trip this board cannot reduce.
2.90 t CO29
Back to GO
The economy turns over about US$41 billion a year (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). Every lap of this board is a choice about how much of it stays.
US$41bnGDPUS$28.9bn
Agriculture, share of GDP4.1%
Visitors a year502,000
Visitors per resident0
Residents~21,913,874
Agriculture
Farming is 4.1% of the economy. Farming underpins the economy and Zambia is usually self sufficient in its maize staple, nshima, sometimes exporting surplus to neighbours.
Natural materials
Zambia keeps living craft traditions in basketry and reed and grass weaving, and grows cotton that feeds the ubiquitous chitenge printed cloth. The crafts are genuine but localised rather than a defining national industry.
Energy
Zambia's electricity is overwhelmingly renewable, with hydropower supplying roughly 84 per cent of generation, chiefly from the Kafue Gorge and Kariba stations. Emissions per person are very low at around 0.54 tonnes of CO2 a year, among the lowest in the world.
Who owns the biggest hotels in Zambia?
By rooms · company records and press.
Taj Pamodzi, Lusaka · ~193 roomsASB Hospitality (Albwardy Group, Dubai), bought a 90% stake from Tata International Singapore for US$18mforeign
InterContinental Lusaka · ~224 roomsQG Africa Hotel LP, a Mauritius-based fund, bought it from Saudi-owned Kingdom Hotel Investments for US$35.9mforeign
Protea Hotels ZambiaUnion Gold Holdings Limited of Zambia, operated under Marriott's Protea brandlocally owned
Visitors, over time
2015932k
2016956k
20171,009k
20181,072k
20191,266k
2020502k
The Zambia Tourism Agency recorded 2.2 million international arrivals in 2024, and by October 2025 it had counted two million. Reports in March and May 2026 put the 2025 total at about 2.3 million, up from just over one million in 2022, though short of the 2.4 million target the tourism minister had set. Tourism minister Rodney Sikumba said in March 2026 that Zambia aims for 2.5 to 3 million arrivals in 2026 and a US$1 billion a year tourism industry by 2031. He also said the sector created 156,000 jobs in the last quarter of 2025.
How much of your money actually stays here?
Tap the holiday you are planning.
World Bank Open Data · International Monetary Fund · UN Tourism (UNWTO) · UN Comtrade via World Bank WITS · ATTA, Zambia posts record tourism: 2025 arrivals on track to top 2.4m · ATTA, Zambia sets sights on 3 million arrivals and 1 billion tourism industry by 2031 · ATTA, Zambia inaugurates new tourism board as arrivals double since 2022 · ATTA, Zambia's tourism sector created 156,000 jobs in Q4 2025, says minister · Lusaka Securities Exchange, Pamodzi Hotels Plc further cautionary announcement (29 February 2024) · Hospitality Net, Hyatt announces plans for Hyatt Regency brand in Zambia (20 October 2025)
Visiting Zambia, whoever you are.
Resort guest, villa renter, family, nomad or backpacker. The honest playbook for each, from the same sourced numbers.
Already booked a resort? · the rescue list
Five swaps that move your money back on-island
1. Eat where the country eats Choose kitchens cooking nshima (maize meal), beans, groundnuts, cooked greens such as rape and pumpkin leaves, sweet potato and cassava over imported menus.
2. Book with a local operator Never the lobby desk. The margin on a tour is the part that stays.
3. Stay somewhere locally owned Ownership decides where the room rate books.
4. Use the transport residents use Charter and scheduled flights to remote parks, 4x4 self drive or transfers, and long distance buses between towns
5. Buy the craft, not the souvenir Natural-materials work made here pays the maker directly; imported gifts pay a shipping line.
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First time here
A landlocked, water rich country that protects over 40% of its land for wildlife and invented the walking safari, though mining pollution and drought hit hydropower are real strains.
Best time: The dry season for wildlife
Getting around
Charter and scheduled flights to remote parks, 4x4 self drive or transfers, and long distance buses between towns
Transport is where the fare either stays or leaves.
Eating here
The everyday plate is nshima (maize meal), beans, groundnuts, cooked greens such as rape and pumpkin leaves, sweet potato and cassava. The everyday Zambian plate is plant based by default: nshima made from maize meal, served with beans, groundnuts and cooked greens such as rape, pumpkin leaves and cassava leaves, plus sweet potato and cassava.
Eating what the country grows is the cheapest way to cut the import bill.
Good to know
Cash widely used; ZMW. USD accepted at top lodges.
Rate my hotel. Tap yours for the honest verdict.
Ownership from company records and press.
Who owns the big hotels
Taj Pamodzi, LusakaASB Hospitality (Albwardy Group, Dubai), bought a 90% stake from Tata International Singapore for US$18m · 193 rooms
InterContinental LusakaQG Africa Hotel LP, a Mauritius-based fund, bought it from Saudi-owned Kingdom Hotel Investments for US$35.9m · 224 rooms
Protea Hotels ZambiaUnion Gold Holdings Limited of Zambia, operated under Marriott's Protea brand
The Taj Pamodzi in Lusaka is foreign owned: ASB Hospitality, part of Dubai based Albwardy Investment, bought 90 per cent of Pamodzi Hotels Plc from Tata International Singapore on the Lusaka Securities Exchange on 28 February 2024, and Hyatt said in October 2025 that it will run the hotel as Hyatt Regency Lusaka The Pamodzi from 2026. Ownership is what decides how much of a room rate stays in the country, which is why we show it when a filing or listing states it.
Society and Governance in Zambia.
How well is Zambia actually run?
Governance, measured · World Bank WGI
Four measured answers, none of them opinion. Averaged across corruption control, delivery and accountability, Zambia scores 43 out of 100 (2024, World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators). That matters here because every pledge on this page is only as good as the machinery meant to deliver it.
What is daily life in Zambia really like? Measured
Getting around, breathing, throwing away, learning. The honest checklist.
TransportAirWaterWastePower
✓How you get around Charter and scheduled flights to remote parks, 4x4 self drive or transfers, and long distance buses between towns
71.8%
literacy. Public spending on education runs at 4.1% of GDP and 14.5% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment stands at 56.8% gross (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2023 to 2025).
Made in Zambia.
Zambia keeps living craft traditions in basketry and reed and grass weaving, and grows cotton that feeds the ubiquitous chitenge printed cloth. The crafts are genuine but localised rather than a defining national industry. Every step of processing done at home is value that stops leaving the country.
What Zambia actually sells the world
The single biggest thing Zambia sells the world is copper, 64.5% of all exports in 2023 (about US$6.73 billion, UN Comtrade). The next four are salt, sulphur, stone and cement at 4.9%, mineral fuels and oils at 4.0%, ores, slag and ash at 2.4%, iron and steel at 1.9%.
Sells now · 64.5% of exports
Copper
Copper is 64.5% of everything Zambia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$6.73 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 4.9% of exports
Salt, sulphur, stone and cement
Salt, sulphur, stone and cement is 4.9% of everything Zambia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$0.51 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 4.0% of exports
Mineral fuels and oils
Mineral fuels and oils is 4.0% of everything Zambia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$0.42 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 2.4% of exports
Ores, slag and ash
Ores, slag and ash is 2.4% of everything Zambia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$0.25 billion. UN Comtrade.
Sells now · 1.9% of exports
Iron and steel
Iron and steel is 1.9% of everything Zambia sold abroad in 2023, worth about US$0.19 billion. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 12.2% of imports
Machinery and mechanical appliances
Zambia imported US$1.24 billion of machinery and mechanical appliances in 2023, 12.2% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 6.8% of imports
Fertilisers
Zambia imported US$0.69 billion of fertilisers in 2023, 6.8% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 4.4% of imports
Plastics
Zambia imported US$0.44 billion of plastics in 2023, 4.4% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 3.6% of imports
Electrical machinery and electronics
Zambia imported US$0.36 billion of electrical machinery and electronics in 2023, 3.6% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
The maths for an entrepreneur. Zambia produces about US$29 billion a year, which is roughly US$1,318 per person (2025, World Bank). Farming is 4.1% of that, while food is 7.8% of everything the country imports. The country buys in more food than its own farms contribute to the economy, and every point of that gap is a business someone could build here rather than ship in. With 5.1% of the land arable, the raw material for that is already in the ground.
See the verified makersCulture in Zambia.
Between March and May, when the Zambezi floods
Kuomboka ceremony of the Lozi
The Lozi people of Western Province move their king, the Litunga, from his palace on the flooded Zambezi plains to his palace on higher ground at the end of the rainy season.
Revived in 1980Last Saturday of February
Nc'wala first fruits ceremony of the Ngoni
The Ngoni people of Eastern Province gather at Mtenguleni Village near Chipata to honour Paramount Chief Mpezeni and give thanks for the first fruits of the harvest.
Last weekend of July
Mutomboko of the Lunda
A two-day ceremony of the Lunda and Luba-speaking people at Mwansabombwe in Luapula Province, celebrating their arrival in Zambia from Kola in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Umutomboko means a dance of victory.
Around August to September
Ukusefya Pa Ng'wena of the Bemba
The Bemba Paramount Chief Chitimukulu calls his people to Mungwi, near Kasama, to celebrate the founding of the Bemba nation and re-enact their migration from Kola.
Last weekend of AugustLikumbi Lya MizeA ceremony of the Luvale-speaking people of North-Western Province, held on both sides of the Zambezi river, where Makishi masquerades are displayed.
Makishi masquerade of the LuvaleMasked dancers perform at the end of mukanda, the initiation of boys aged eight to twelve among the Luvale, Chokwe, Luchazi and Mbunda peoples of North-Western and Western provinces. UNESCO inscribed it on its heritage list in 2008.
Does Zambia protect its heritage by law?
Partly, and the gaps say as much as the protections.
What is kept alive. Zambia sustains a calendar of living traditional ceremonies that remain central to community and spiritual life. The Lozi Kuomboka sees the Litunga move by royal barge from the flooding Barotse plain, while the Ngoni Nc'wala gives first fruits thanks to the ancestors for the harvest. Other living observances include the Lunda Mutomboko, the Bemba Ukusefya Pa Ng'wena and the Luvale Likumbi Lya Mize with its Makishi masquerade.
Who it belongs to. Zambia has more than 70 living ethnic groups and vivid traditional ceremonies such as the Lozi Kuomboka, and community based tourism and conservancies operate around the major parks. South Luangwa is the birthplace of the walking safari, and community partnerships channel some tourism income to local people, though a share still concentrates with operators.
Only here. The Kasanka bat migration, about 850,000 straw coloured fruit bats at an automated camera count in November 2019, far fewer than the 10 million long quoted from manual counts, a gap the researchers attribute to counting method rather than a fall in numbers.
The Future of Zambia.
Three futures for Zambia, every one run forward from measured data.
Where the making actually happens
Named cultural and craft sites on the open map: st Joseph Home Craft Centre New Kanyama (Lusaka), The Livingstone Museum (Livingstone), Lusaka National Museum (Lusaka), Copperbelt museum (Ndola), Excavation Museum (Livingstone). OpenStreetMap. Named craft workshops on the open map: Curio Stand Mukuni Park, Mukuni Curio Market, Mukuni Park Curio 48, Mukuni Park Curio Office, Mukuni Park Curio Shop-23, Will J Nduna Arts.
Every measured trend on one line
Run forward at the pace already recorded.
World Bank open data, recorded series
How much forest is left?
Forest cover moved from 63.5% to 60.5% across 29 recorded years.
How clean is the grid?
Renewable electricity moved from 99.3% to 92% across 26 recorded years.
How much climate pollution per person?
CO2 per person moved from 0.27 t to 0.54 t across 29 recorded years.
How many people visit?
Tourist arrivals moved from 163k to 502k across 25 recorded years.
How much land is protected?
Protected land moved from 38% to 41.3% across 12 recorded years.
How many people still farm?
Farm workforce moved from 74.9% to 54.5% across 30 recorded years.
What share of all energy is renewable?
Renewable energy use moved from 87.1% to 83% across 26 recorded years.
How much energy does one person use?
Energy per person moved from 663 kg to 812 kg across 29 recorded years.
How much land and sea is protected together?
Protected area, total moved from 38% to 41.3% across 12 recorded years.
How long do people live?
Life expectancy moved from 46.1 yrs to 66.5 yrs across 29 recorded years.
How much does a hectare of cereal produce?
Cereal yield moved from 1,331 kg/ha to 2,318 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How much fertiliser goes on the land?
Fertiliser use moved from 19.3 kg/ha to 78.9 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How many people still live rurally?
Rural population moved from 61.6% to 54.1% across 30 recorded years.
How much value per cubic metre of water?
Water productivity moved from 3.99 $/m3 to 16.7 $/m3 across 27 recorded years.
How much goes on health?
Health spending moved from 4.12% to 5.98% across 23 recorded years.
How much forest is there in total?
Forest area moved from 472,330 km2 to 448,743 km2 across 30 recorded years.
How much electricity per person?
Electric power use moved from 734 kWh to 514 kWh across 29 recorded years.
How have agriculture emissions moved?
Agriculture emissions moved from 19.92 to 23.86 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have building emissions moved?
Building emissions moved from 2.69 to 5.83 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have electricity/heat emissions moved?
Electricity/Heat emissions moved from 0.16 to 3.1 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have energy emissions moved?
Energy emissions moved from 5.11 to 15.83 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have industrial processes emissions moved?
Industrial Processes emissions moved from 0.27 to 1.27 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have manufacturing/construction emissions moved?
Manufacturing/Construction emissions moved from 1.34 to 3.5 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have transportation emissions moved?
Transportation emissions moved from 0.8 to 2.71 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
Worst caseCurrent pathBest case
Worst case
Every measured decline continues at the pace already recorded. The weakest pillar, organic farming at 1/5, is the one that gives way first.
Computed from: recorded series extended with no policy change
What the best case actually asks for
Lift organic farming
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Zambia's record. Certified organic farmland is negligible, around 0.003% of agricultural land (FiBL, 2020). As across much of the region, many smallholders farm with few synthetic inputs out of necessity, but almost none of this is certified organic.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift recycling
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Zambia's record. There is no meaningful formal municipal recycling system and no reliable published rate. Recovery is minimal and informal, limited to some scrap metal and PET collection in the larger cities.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift pollution
It scores 2 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Zambia's record. The national PM2.5 annual mean is moderate, around 20 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2023), and Zambia has banned thin single use plastic bags, though enforcement is patchy.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Government and Goals in Zambia.
Who is in charge of Zambia now · Office-holders from the UN Protocol and Liaison Service public list of Heads of State and Heads of Government, 20 October 2026. Legislature and election dates from IFES ElectionGuide. Constitution dates from the Constitute Project. Governance scores from the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators 2024.
Hakainde Hichilema
President
Hakainde Hichilema is the head of government of Zambia, in office since 24 August 2021. Every climate, protection and energy pledge on this page is delivered, or not, under this administration.
Public opinion, measured
Voice and accountability, the freedom to question government scores 52.1 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 52.7 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Control of corruption scores 38.9 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 39.5 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Political stability and absence of violence scores 64.6 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 64.7 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Rule of law scores 50.5 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 50.3 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Regulatory quality scores 47.7 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 49.5 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Hakainde HichilemaPresident
National AssemblyLegislature, unicameral
Last election13 August 2026
Constitution1991, as revised to 2016
Government typepresidential republic
Zambia national goals: what has been pledged, and how far it has got · each pledge measured against this country's own recorded delivery
2030
30% of land protected
✓ deliveredTarget 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted by more than 190 parties in December 2022. Zambia currently protects 41.3% of its land, which is 138% of the way to the pledge. Source
2030
Paris Agreement pledge
on recordZambia has a Nationally Determined Contribution lodged with the UNFCCC. The registry holds the current text, its target year and the sectors it covers. Source
Plastic policy
in force, weakly enforcedBan on plastic carrier and flat bags that do not meet the Zambian Standard, under Statutory Instrument 65 of 2018.
Grid, as it stands
92% renewableRecorded renewable share of electricity output, the number every energy pledge is measured against. Source
Plain Answers About Zambia.
The questions people actually type, answered in full sentences from the sourced data above.
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Is Zambia sustainable?
Zambia scores 70 out of 100 on the Throne Eco Index, across twelve equally weighted pillars. A landlocked, water rich country that protects over 40% of its land for wildlife and invented the walking safari, though mining pollution and drought hit hydropower are real strains.
Is the water in Zambia safe and plentiful?
Zambia is exceptionally water rich on paper, with the Zambezi, Kafue and Luangwa rivers, Lake Tanganyika, the huge Kariba reservoir, the Bangweulu wetlands and Victoria Falls. Access is the weak point: about 73% of people have at least basic drinking water (World Bank and JMP, 2024), safely managed coverage is lower, and tap water is generally unsafe. Heavy reliance on Kariba hydro also left supply exposed during the 2024 drought.
Can Zambia feed itself?
Farming underpins the economy and Zambia is usually self sufficient in its maize staple, nshima, sometimes exporting surplus to neighbours. Production is dominated by smallholders, but the system is narrow and rain dependent, and the 2024 drought turned a normal surplus into an emergency maize deficit.
Is it easy to eat plant-based in Zambia?
The everyday Zambian plate is plant based by default: nshima made from maize meal, served with beans, groundnuts and cooked greens such as rape, pumpkin leaves and cassava leaves, plus sweet potato and cassava. Fresh produce is cheap in township markets, so unprocessed plant eating is the norm.
How much of Zambia is actually protected?
Zambia protects about 41.3% of its land (World Bank, 2025) through vast national parks such as Kafue, one of Africa's largest, plus South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi, and a ring of Game Management Areas. The headline figure is undercut by funding: many Game Management Areas are under resourced and poaching remains a real pressure, so paper coverage exceeds effective protection.
What wildlife is left in Zambia?
Zambia offers iconic African megafauna and genuine endemics: Kafue and black lechwe, the Thornicroft's giraffe of the Luangwa Valley and the shoebill of the Bangweulu wetlands. South Luangwa is famous for its leopards and one of the densest hippo populations in Africa, and the country lists 148 IUCN threatened species (2023).
Is Zambia on clean energy?
Zambia's electricity is overwhelmingly renewable, with hydropower supplying roughly 84 per cent of generation, chiefly from the Kafue Gorge and Kariba stations. Emissions per person are very low at around 0.54 tonnes of CO2 a year, among the lowest in the world. The country's NDC 3.0, submitted in 2025, pledges to cut emissions by 25 per cent unconditionally and up to 47 per cent with international support by 2030, anchored in the National Policy on Climate Change and Vision 2030.
How polluted is Zambia?
The national PM2.5 annual mean is moderate, around 20 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2023), and Zambia has banned thin single use plastic bags, though enforcement is patchy. The bigger issue is severe localised pollution: copper smelting on the Copperbelt and the notorious legacy lead contamination at Kabwe, one of the most polluted places on Earth.
Does recycling work in Zambia?
There is no meaningful formal municipal recycling system and no reliable published rate. Recovery is minimal and informal, limited to some scrap metal and PET collection in the larger cities.
Is the farming in Zambia organic?
Certified organic farmland is negligible, around 0.003% of agricultural land (FiBL, 2020). As across much of the region, many smallholders farm with few synthetic inputs out of necessity, but almost none of this is certified organic.
Are there natural materials and craft in Zambia?
Zambia keeps living craft traditions in basketry and reed and grass weaving, and grows cotton that feeds the ubiquitous chitenge printed cloth. The crafts are genuine but localised rather than a defining national industry.
Is there living culture in Zambia?
Zambia has more than 70 living ethnic groups and vivid traditional ceremonies such as the Lozi Kuomboka, and community based tourism and conservancies operate around the major parks. South Luangwa is the birthplace of the walking safari, and community partnerships channel some tourism income to local people, though a share still concentrates with operators.
What heritage does Zambia keep alive?
Zambia sustains a calendar of living traditional ceremonies that remain central to community and spiritual life. The Lozi Kuomboka sees the Litunga move by royal barge from the flooding Barotse plain, while the Ngoni Nc'wala gives first fruits thanks to the ancestors for the harvest. Other living observances include the Lunda Mutomboko, the Bemba Ukusefya Pa Ng'wena and the Luvale Likumbi Lya Mize with its Makishi masquerade.
So is Zambia actually green? The measured answer
What is working: land protected at 41.3%, renewable electricity at 92%.
What is not: the gaps are narrower here than in most of the directory, and each remaining one is named below.
How Zambia Ranks, region and world.
Where Zambia sits on the Eco Index, against its Africa neighbours and the 77 destinations scored worldwide.
How does Zambia compare in Africa?
1Ethiopia70
3Uganda65
4Tanzania65
5Namibia65
Scored Africa destinations, Eco Index.
The global top 10 of the 77 destinations scored
1Switzerland78
2France78
3Finland77
4Slovenia77
5Australia77
6Portugal75
7Germany75
8New Zealand75
9Italy73
10Spain73
Zambia sits 16 of 77 at 70/100. Every name links to its own destination page, built exactly like this one. The full ranking
What is Zambia particularly good at?
✓ Food and farming, scored 5/5. Farming underpins the economy and Zambia is usually self sufficient in its maize staple, nshima, sometimes exporting surplus to neighbours. Production is dominated by smallholders, but the system is narrow and rain dependent, and the 2024 drought turned a normal surplus into an emergency maize deficit.
✓ Conservation, scored 5/5. Zambia protects about 41.3% of its land (World Bank, 2025) through vast national parks such as Kafue, one of Africa's largest, plus South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi, and a ring of Game Management Areas. The headline figure is undercut by funding: many Game Management Areas are under resourced and poaching remains a real pressure, so paper coverage exceeds effective protection.
✓ Heritage, scored 5/5. Zambia sustains a calendar of living traditional ceremonies that remain central to community and spiritual life. The Lozi Kuomboka sees the Litunga move by royal barge from the flooding Barotse plain, while the Ngoni Nc'wala gives first fruits thanks to the ancestors for the harvest. Other living observances include the Lunda Mutomboko, the Bemba Ukusefya Pa Ng'wena and the Luvale Likumbi Lya Mize with its Makishi masquerade. Kalindula music and drumming carry these gatherings, and ancestral thanksgiving and remembrance remain widely practised. This is deep, widely alive heritage held across many peoples.
Where does Zambia score worst?
✕ Organic farming, scored 1/5. Certified organic farmland is negligible, around 0.003% of agricultural land (FiBL, 2020). As across much of the region, many smallholders farm with few synthetic inputs out of necessity, but almost none of this is certified organic.
✕ Recycling, scored 1/5. There is no meaningful formal municipal recycling system and no reliable published rate. Recovery is minimal and informal, limited to some scrap metal and PET collection in the larger cities.
✕ Pollution, scored 2/5. The national PM2.5 annual mean is moderate, around 20 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2023), and Zambia has banned thin single use plastic bags, though enforcement is patchy. The bigger issue is severe localised pollution: copper smelting on the Copperbelt and the notorious legacy lead contamination at Kabwe, one of the most polluted places on Earth.
A note from the lens of mother natureSwipe
Organic farming, 1/5
Certified organic farmland is negligible, around 0.003% of agricultural land (FiBL, 2020). As across much of the region, many smallholders farm with few synthetic inputs out of necessity, but almost none of this is certified organic.
Consequence: It is the lowest-scoring part of Zambia's record, so it is where the score moves first.
Recycling, 1/5
There is no meaningful formal municipal recycling system and no reliable published rate. Recovery is minimal and informal, limited to some scrap metal and PET collection in the larger cities.
Pollution, 2/5
The national PM2.5 annual mean is moderate, around 20 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2023), and Zambia has banned thin single use plastic bags, though enforcement is patchy.
The Zambia Directory.
Everything on Hold The Throne that sits in Zambia, checked and listed.
How the rest of the world scores Zambia
Independent global indices, for calibration.
Forest cover
60.5
World Bank, 2024.
Protected land
41.3
World Bank, 2025.
Renewable grid
92.0
World Bank, 2021.
CO2 per person
~0.54
World Bank, 2024.
Threatened species
148
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
Control of corruption
38.9 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Government effectiveness
44.4 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Rule of law
50.5 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Political stability
64.6 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Voice and accountability
52.1 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Environmental Performance Index
37.2 / 100 · 113 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 113 of 177 countries assessed.
Ecosystem vitality
60.8 / 100 · 13 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 13 of 177 countries assessed.
Biodiversity and habitat
77.2 / 100 · 1 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 1 of 177 countries assessed.
Air quality
24.9 / 100 · 134 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 134 of 177 countries assessed.
Terrestrial biomes protected
99.2 / 100 · 17 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 17 of 177 countries assessed.
How Zambia Is Scored. The Throne Standard.
Every destination on the index is scored the same way, so a 4 in Barbados means exactly what a 4 means in Iceland. No self-declared data and no brochure claims are accepted. Seven pillars are scored from published measurements with the same fixed thresholds everywhere: energy (low-carbon share of electricity, 90% or more scores 5, 70% 4, 50% 3, 25% 2), conservation (land and sea protected), water (safe drinking water, wastewater treated, water stress), organic farmland, recycling, food import dependence and air quality. Where a measurement is not published for a place, that pillar keeps its source-assessed score and is labelled as such. Wildlife, culture, heritage, materials and plant-based eating have no comparable measurement and are assessed from the named sources. The Eco Index is the average of the twelve pillar scores multiplied by 20. Every figure on this page carries its named source and year, and the history on each page names what empire took as plainly as it scores the present.
The 12 pillars every destination is scored on, equally weighted
01
Water
Safe drinking water, wastewater treated and water stress. Measured.
02
Food & farming
How much of the import bill is food: whether the place feeds itself. Measured.
03
Plant-based
How easy it is to eat plant-based, from documented sources.
04
Organic
Certified organic share of farmland. Measured.
05
Conservation
Land and sea legally protected, against the 30 by 30 goal. Measured.
06
Wildlife
What survives, what is endemic, what is lost, from documented sources.
07
Materials
Local natural fibres and craft, from documented sources.
08
Pollution
Air quality (PM2.5, measured) and plastics and waste policy.
09
Recycling
Share of municipal waste recycled. Measured.
10
Energy
Low-carbon share of electricity, nuclear included. Measured.
11
Culture
Living culture and community-led visits, from documented sources.
12
Heritage
What the law keeps standing, from documented sources.
What each 0 to 5 pillar score means, in plain words
0
Absent
nothing verifiable exists
1
Failing
measurably going the wrong way
2
Weak
claims outrun delivery
3
Fair
real effort, mixed results
4
Strong
genuinely good, evidence named
5
Leading
world class, and the trend holds
Where the numbers come from.
The institutions above are the ones cited on this page, ranked by how many of its figures they carry. This same sectioned page renders for all 77 scored destinations, each with its own researched history, comparison charts and three-way future. Read the full methodology
Every figure on this page, and where it came from: 55 sources across 24 institutions
World Bank23 FIGURES
- Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2023 check
- Terrestrial protected areas (% of land) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2025 check
- Renewable electricity output (% of total) EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS, 2021 check
- PM2.5 mean annual exposure (micrograms per cubic metre) EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3, 2023 check
- CO2 emissions per capita EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5, 2024 check
- GDP (current US$) NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, 2025 check
- International tourist arrivals ST.INT.ARVL, 2020 check
- Agricultural land (% of land area) AG.LND.AGRI.ZS, 2023 check
- Arable land (% of land area) AG.LND.ARBL.ZS, 2023 check
- Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS, 2025 check
- Adult literacy rate SE.ADT.LITR.ZS, 2024 check
- Renewable internal freshwater per capita (m3) ER.H2O.INTR.PC, 2022 check
- Overweight prevalence, adults (%) SH.STA.OWAD.ZS, 2022 check
- Central government debt (% of GDP) GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS, 2021 check
- Population total SP.POP.TOTL, 2025 check
- Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area), indicator ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, Zambia, Zambia protects about 41% of its land (World Bank, 2025) through vast national parks such as Kafue, one of Afr check
- Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area), indicator ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, Zambia corroboration check
- Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area), indicator ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, Zambia corroboration check
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure (micrograms per cubic metre), indicator EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3, Zambia, The national PM2.5 annual mean is moderate, around 20 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2023), and Zambi check
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure (micrograms per cubic metre), indicator EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3, Zambia corroboration check
- Carbon dioxide emissions per capita, indicator EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5, Zambia, Emissions per person are very low at around 0.54 tonnes of CO2 a year, among the lowest in the world. check
- Carbon dioxide emissions per capita, indicator EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5, Zambia corroboration check
- What a Waste 2.0 country-level dataset check
UNESCO Institute for Statistics5 FIGURES
- Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Zambia, Public spending on education runs at 4.1% of GDP and 14.5% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment check
- Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Zambia corroboration check
- Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Zambia corroboration check
- Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Zambia corroboration check
- Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (XGDP.FSGOV), Zambia corroboration check
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area (% of land area) AG_LND_FRST, Zambia, 2025 (60.4%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area under a long-term management plan (%) AG_LND_FRSTMGT, Zambia, 2025 (82.5%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area inside legally established protected areas (%) AG_LND_FRSTPRCT, Zambia, 2025 (82.5%), country-reported check
BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC2 FIGURES
FAO2 FIGURES
0.543 t CO2e per person in 20241 FIGURE
- World Bank series updated July 2026 check
About 8501 FIGURE
- 000 bats at the 2019 automated count (Koger et al., Ecosphere, 2023); the 10 million figure came from manual counts around 2005 and the superlative no longer holds check
CBD1 FIGURE
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3 check
Constitute Project1 FIGURE
- Zambia 1991 (rev. 2016) check
FiBL1 FIGURE
- The World of Organic Agriculture, organic farmland statistics check
Human Rights Watch and Pure Earth1 FIGURE
- lead contamination at Kabwe check
IEA1 FIGURE
- Zambia country profile (electricity mix), 2023 check
IEA, World Energy Balances1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, renewable share of total final energy consumption (%) EG_FEC_RNEW, Zambia, 2023 (80.4%), modelled estimate check
IFES ElectionGuide1 FIGURE
- Zambia elections and chambers check
Kasanka Trust1 FIGURE
- the straw coloured fruit bat migration in Kasanka National Park check
Odubote I.K. (2023)1 FIGURE
- Trends and Status of Rabbit Production and Research in Lusaka District, Journal of Agriculture and Biomedical Sciences 7(3), University of Zambia, Oryctolagus cuniculus range check
Our World in Data1 FIGURE
- Zambia CO2 country profile, 2023 check
UN Statistics Division1 FIGURE
- Statistical Yearbook (68th issue), Threatened species table (source: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, accessed June 2025), 2023 figures check
World Bank / WHO-UNICEF JMP1 FIGURE
- People using at least basic drinking water services (%) SH.H2O.BASW.ZS, 2024 check
Yale Environment 3601 FIGURE
- Zambia drought hydro to solar pivot, 2024 check
Zambia Environmental Management Agency1 FIGURE
- national environmental authority check
Zambia Statistics Agency1 FIGURE
- national statistical authority check
Zambia Tourism Agency1 FIGURE
- Traditional ceremonies check