Share of male sole proprietors in Zambia
Zambia: Share of male sole proprietors was 67.2% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of male sole proprietors in Zambia, 2014–2024
Source: World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship). Downloaded on May 2, 2026. Measured in % of sole proprietors.
Analysis
Zambia recorded 67.2% for share of male sole proprietors in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 4.2% on the previous year and down 3.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of male sole proprietors in Zambia peaked at 73.1% in 2017 and was at its lowest, 60.8%, in 2022.
Zambia ranks 25th of 78 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Share of male sole proprietors in Zambia, year by year
| Year | % of sole proprietors | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 69.7% | — |
| 2015 | 66.6% | -4.4% |
| 2016 | 71.2% | +6.9% |
| 2017 | 73.1% | +2.6% |
| 2018 | 72.7% | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 71.8% | -1.2% |
| 2020 | 68.7% | -4.4% |
| 2021 | 65.2% | -5.1% |
| 2022 | 60.8% | -6.6% |
| 2023 | 70.1% | +15.3% |
| 2024 | 67.2% | -4.2% |
Zambia compared with similar countries
- Zambia's 67.2% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 67.7%, 99% of the median. (14 countries reporting)
- Zambia's 67.2% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 67.2%, 1.0× the median. (17 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 70.8% | 66.6% | 73.1% | 6 |
| 2020s | 66.4% | 60.8% | 70.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More private sector data for Zambia
- Merchandise trade 91.7% (2025)
- Food imports 7.8% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 64.4% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 13.17 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 8.7% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 14.1% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 13.31 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 607.56 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.461 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 18.07 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of male sole proprietors in Zambia?
- Share of male sole proprietors in Zambia was 67.2% in 2024, according to World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship). Downloaded on May 2, 2026.
- What is the highest share of male sole proprietors recorded in Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 73.1% in 2017.
- What is the lowest share of male sole proprietors recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.8% in 2022.
- How does Zambia rank for share of male sole proprietors?
- Zambia ranks 25th out of 78 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of male sole proprietors rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zambia data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship). Downloaded on May 2, 2026, published as part of Share of male sole proprietors (% of sole proprietors). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Share of male sole proprietors is the proportion of male newly registered sole proprietors out of the total number of newly registered sole proprietors in the economy in the calendar year. A sole proprietorship is a business entity owned and managed by a single individual who is indistinguishable from the business and personally liable.