Cape Verde has downplayed the World Bank’s downward revision of its 2025 growth forecast, calling it a “normal variation.” The Africa’s Pulse report lowered Cape Verde’s GDP growth outlook for 2025 from 5.9% to 5.4%. In an intervention on October 17, the Finance Minister emphasized that, despite growth being “at a good level,” it remains insufficient and requires structural reforms in key sectors to prevent them from hindering economic development. Furthermore, Cape Verde moved into the upper-middle-income country group on July 1, 2025. This advancement, announced by the World Bank, follows a 16.8% increase in gross national income per capita between 2023 and 2024.
On October 17, 2025, the Cape Verdean government downplayed the World Bank’s downward revision of its growth forecast for the year, judging it to be within the range of “normal variation.” The World Bank’s Africa’s Pulse report, published in early October, had revised Cape Verde’s GDP growth prospects for 2025 down from 5.9% to 5.4%. According to Cape Verde’s Finance Minister, the country is experiencing growth at a “good level,” “well above Sub-Saharan Africa” and global growth, but he stressed that this rate is still insufficient for the country’s current needs.
“We are growing practically at the limit of our potential, between 5 and 7%. We are therefore within this range, relative to what we currently consider to be Cape Verde’s economic growth potential: between 5 and 7%. Therefore, within this range, this variation is normal. But what we must do, and what we are doing, is reform the economy to increase our growth potential.”
Acknowledging obstacles in key sectors such as energy, connectivity, sanitation, health, training, and private investment, the minister argued for structural reforms. In his view, the absence of these reforms would turn these sectors into bottlenecks for economic growth.
“What we are currently doing are structural reforms. We must work for the Cape Verdean economy to grow between 5% and 7% in the short term and then accelerate reforms so that our potential doubles and we can achieve growth levels above 10%, between 10% and 12%.”
Cape Verde moved into the upper-middle-income country group on July 1, 2025. This advancement, announced by the World Bank, follows a 16.8% increase in gross national income per capita between 2023 and 2024. The real growth of 7.3% in 2024, primarily driven by tourism, supported this transition. A reduction in the GDP deflator, reflecting lower domestic inflation, also contributed to this economic progress.