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Country profile · Southern Africa

Botswana

Botswana is a landlocked country of about 2.6 million people in southern Africa. President Duma Boko took office in November 2024 after his Umbrella for Democratic Change ended 58 years of rule by the Botswana Democratic Party. Diamonds made Botswana one of Africa's richer countries, but a fall in diamond prices since 2022 has hurt its budget.

Updated October 2026 · Data from the UN, IMF, SIPRI and IISS

A family of elephants walking in a line across green grass beside a pool on the Chobe River floodplain, with trees and clouds behind Map of Africa with Botswana highlighted
Elephants on the Chobe River, November 2021. Photo: Aone Mokwena, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

Where Botswana ranks

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Which alliances is Botswana in?

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Who runs Botswana?

President Duma Boko was born in Mahalapye. He studied law at the University of Botswana and earned a master's degree at Harvard Law School. He became leader of the Botswana National Front in 2010 and of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) in 2012. In the election of October 30, 2024 the UDC won 36 of the 61 elected seats (chart). The Botswana Democratic Party, in power since independence in 1966, fell to four seats, although it still won 30.47% of the vote. President Mokgweetsi Masisi conceded on November 1, 2024, and Boko was sworn in the same day as the sixth president. In August 2025 Boko declared a public health emergency over medicine shortages, as diamond income fell and US aid was cut. Transport Minister Noah Salakae resigned in August 2026 after he was charged over a road contract. Mpho Balopi, the leader of the Botswana Democratic Party, was charged with fraud in September 2026.

Duma Boko
Duma Boko
President since 2024
Umbrella for Democratic Change
Elected seats in the National Assembly, October 2024 election61 seats
31 for a majority
  • Umbrella for Democratic Change (Boko) 36
  • Botswana Congress Party 15
  • Botswana Patriotic Front 5
  • Botswana Democratic Party 4
  • Independent 1

Photo (March 2025): Freddie Everett, US Department of State, Wikimedia Commons, public domain (cropped)

Who are Botswana's allies and rivals?

South Africa supplies nearly 60% of Botswana's imports. Payments from the Southern African Customs Union, which Botswana shares with South Africa, are the government's largest source of revenue, about 35% in the 2026/27 budget. Half of the basket that sets the value of the pula, Botswana's currency, is the South African rand. The Southern African Development Community has its headquarters in Gaborone. Botswana and De Beers each own half of Debswana, the main diamond miner, and Botswana owns 15% of De Beers. Anglo American is selling De Beers, and in October 2026 Botswana was close to a deal to raise its stake to about 25%. The United States announced a 37% tariff on Botswana in April 2025, but since July 24, 2026 Botswana's goods face no extra US tariff. In October 2026 President Duma Boko and Xi Jinping upgraded relations between Botswana and China. In 2024 President Masisi offered to send 20,000 elephants to Germany in a row over hunting trophies.

Allies and partners

  • South AfricaSupplies nearly 60% of imports
  • NamibiaTravel with ID cards since 2023
  • ZambiaLinked by the Kazungula Bridge since 2021
  • United Arab EmiratesLargest buyer of its exports
  • ChinaTies upgraded in October 2026
Map of Botswana with South Africa, Namibia and Zambia marked as partners, and pins on Jwaneng, Orapa, Gaborone and the Kazungula Bridge
  1. Jwaneng The world's richest diamond mine by value. It earns about 70% of Debswana's profits.
  2. Orapa Diamonds were found here in 1967, the year after independence. Mining began in 1971.
  3. Gaborone Capital built from 1964. Britain had run the protectorate from Mafeking, in South Africa.
  4. Kazungula Bridge Road and rail bridge to Zambia, opened on May 10, 2021.
  • Botswana
  • Partner

Who does Botswana trade with?

Botswana exported $3.92 billion of goods in 2024 and imported $7.11 billion (UN Comtrade). The United Arab Emirates bought 26.9% of exports (chart). South Africa supplied 59.9% of imports. Diamonds made up 78.8% of exports in 2023 but 64.4% in the first quarter of 2026, as copper rose to about a fifth. De Beers' average price fell from $197 a carat in 2022 to $97 in the first nine months of 2026. De Beers says lab-grown diamonds have hurt demand for cheaper natural stones. Debswana's output fell from 24.7 million carats in 2023 to 15.1 million in 2025. The economy shrank 2.8% in 2024 and 0.7% in 2025, then grew 8.7% in the second quarter of 2026 as diamond output recovered. Diamonds now bring in only about 16% of budget revenue. Moody's cut Botswana's credit rating on September 25, 2026. In 2026 the EU stopped imports of Botswana's beef after outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease.

Sells to

Share of Botswana's exports

  1. United Arab Emirates26.9%
  2. South Africa15.3%
  3. India13.5%
  4. Belgium10.6%
  5. Australia9.1%

Buys from

Share of Botswana's imports

  1. South Africa59.9%
  2. Namibia13.9%
  3. China4.4%
  4. Canada3.0%
  5. India2.5%

Goods, 2024. UN Comtrade (Botswana's own figures; 2025 not yet reported).

Why is Botswana called an African success story?

When Botswana became independent from Britain on September 30, 1966, it had about 12 km of paved road and 22 university graduates. GDP per person was about $70. Seretse Khama, heir to a line of chiefs, became the first president. In 1948 he had married Ruth Williams, a white British clerk, in London. Under pressure from apartheid South Africa, Britain barred him from his homeland from 1950 until 1956. Diamonds were found at Orapa in 1967 and at Jwaneng in 1972. The state took half of the mining company, Debswana, and saved part of the income in the Pula Fund. From 1966 to 1997 the economy grew 9.2% a year, the fastest in the world, according to a World Bank study. GDP per person was $7,662 in 2025, above South Africa's (chart). Botswana has held regular elections since 1965 and ranks 41st of 182 countries on Transparency International's corruption index. Its inequality is among the highest in the world.

GDP per person, 2025

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  1. Mauritius$12,977
  2. Botswana$7,662
  3. South Africa$6,769
  4. Namibia$4,862
  5. Eswatini$4,442
  6. Angola$3,614
  7. Zimbabwe$3,080
  8. Zambia$1,318
  9. Mozambique$623

IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026)

How did Botswana fight HIV?

In 2000 about 26.3% of adults aged 15 to 49 in Botswana had HIV (UNAIDS). Life expectancy fell from about 63.7 years in 1984 to 52.2 in 2001 (World Bank). In 2002 Botswana started Africa's first free national HIV treatment program. A 2021 national survey found that 20.8% of adults aged 15 to 64 had HIV. It also found that 95% of them knew it, 98% of those were on treatment and 98% of those had the virus under control. That beat the UN's 95-95-95 targets. In 2025 the WHO recognized it as the first country with a high HIV rate to reach its gold tier for ending mother-to-child transmission. The UN puts life expectancy at 69.4 in 2025 (chart). After US cuts in 2025, the two governments agreed in December 2025 that Botswana will take over the services, with $106 million from the United States and more than $380 million from Botswana.

Life expectancy, 2025

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  1. Mauritius75.3
  2. Botswana69.4
  3. Namibia67.7
  4. Zambia66.7
  5. South Africa66.5
  6. Angola65.0
  7. Eswatini64.4
  8. Mozambique64.0
  9. Zimbabwe63.3
  10. Lesotho58.2

UN World Population Prospects 2024

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