• Côte d’Ivoire reduced its budget deficit from 6.8% of GDP in 2022 to 4% in 2024, according to the World Bank.
• The government targets a deficit of 3% of GDP by end-2025, in line with the UEMOA convergence criterion.
• Fiscal improvement came from stronger revenue mobilization, reaching 14.1 trillion CFA francs in 2024, and controlled spending growth.

Côte d’Ivoire has reduced its budget deficit by 2.8 percentage points over the past three years, from 6.8% of GDP in 2022 to 4% in 2024, the World Bank said in a report published on September 10, 2025. The improvement followed sustained revenue growth and moderate spending increases.

Government data show that Côte d’Ivoire exceeded its revenue targets in most years between 2022 and 2024. In 2022, the state collected CFA10.4 trillion ($18.3 billion), achieving 104.3% of its revenue target. It mobilized CFA11 trillion in 2023, with a 99% execution rate, and CFA14.1 trillion in 2024, equal to 101.4% of forecasts, according to the Budget Ministry.

Public spending also rose in a measured way. In 2022, expenditure reached CFA10.3 trillion against a projection of 9.9 trillion. It climbed to 11.3 trillion in 2023, representing a 98.8% execution rate, and stood at 13.8 trillion in 2024. The government said spending focused primarily on investments, personnel, debt servicing, and infrastructure in energy, housing, and water supply.

“The continued improvement in tax collection and control of operating expenses should create fiscal space to finance public investments and social spending,” the Economy Ministry said.

Budget Minister Moussa Sanogo told Parliament in 2021 that fiscal policy aimed to consolidate domestic revenue collection, manage spending efficiently, and maintain public debt sustainability. The approach sought to strengthen fiscal flexibility to fund growth-driving sectors and reduce poverty.

To finance the deficit and service debt, Côte d’Ivoire raised CFA4.16 trillion on regional and international markets in 2022, 5 trillion in 2023, and 5.85 trillion in 2024, according to the Budget and Finance Directorate. The deficit, in nominal terms, fell from CFA2.98 trillion in 2022 to 2.09 trillion in 2024.

The country’s fiscal position deteriorated during the pandemic, widening to 5.6% of GDP in 2020 and 5.4% in 2021, after standing at 2.4% in 2019. The World Bank attributed the earlier deficits to COVID-related spending, energy subsidies, and security challenges.

Towards achieving the WAEMU objective

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund both said Côte d’Ivoire is on track to meet the 3% of GDP deficit target by end-2025, the ceiling set by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

The World Bank said fiscal reforms should focus on “improving tax policy and administration, broadening the budget base, and leveraging better trade terms.” It cited measures such as refining property tax, streamlining VAT exemptions and the investment code, and digitizing the tax system. Coordination between tax and customs agencies and modernized border controls are also expected to boost revenue.

Côte d’Ivoire’s economic growth, which averaged above 6% between 2022 and 2024, is projected to reach 6.2% in 2025 and around 6.4% in 2026 and 2027, supported by expansion in hydrocarbons, mining, and services.

This article was initially published in French by Lydie Mobio

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum