Economy
Ethiopia’s GDP Rebase Captures Growth in Digital Financial Services
TechAfrica News · yesterday · Read the Full Story on TechAfrica News
AI SUMMARY
Ethiopia has revised its national accounts to rebase GDP and incorporate previously underrepresented sectors like digital financial services, increasing reported figures significantly.
- Ethiopia revised its national accounts, shifting the GDP reference year from 2015/16 to 2024/25 with technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund.
- Reported GDP for the 2024/25 financial year reached 24.03 trillion birr, or approximately $201.4 billion, up from 15.09 trillion birr under the previous series.
- Preliminary figures for 2025/26 estimate GDP at 31.86 trillion birr, equivalent to about $210.7 billion.
- The updated methodology captures previously underrepresented economic activities, including digital financial services, ride-hailing platforms, large solar projects, informal manufacturing, artisanal mining, and regional state-owned enterprises.
- Ethio Telecom reported a 33.2% increase in revenue, reaching 215.82 billion birr for the 2025/26 financial year.
- The telecom company's customer base grew to 90.12 million users, with data and internet services overtaking mobile voice to become its largest revenue stream at 31.1% of total revenue.
- Telebirr recorded 60.6 million registered users and processed 2.61 billion transactions valued at 4.19 trillion birr during the year.
- Telebirr has handled cumulative transactions worth 9.13 trillion birr since its launch in 2021.
- The mobile money service registered 440,100 merchants and disbursed 19.51 billion birr in digital loans to 5.65 million customers.
- Ethio Telecom spent 76 billion birr on network infrastructure, achieving 82.2% population coverage for 4G, launching 5G in 33 cities, and reaching a 45.2% smartphone penetration rate.
- The Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy aims to increase the digital sector's contribution to GDP to 12% and generate one million jobs by the end of the decade.
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