Economics and statistics

Botswana is a small open economy in southern Africa with a high share of diamond mining, developing services and tourism (Okavango, Chobe), as well as agriculture (cattle breeding/meat exports).

The budget and balance of payments are sensitive to commodity cycles and SACU transfers; The (pool) currency is managed against a basket of currencies, which mitigates but does not exclude external shocks.

The labor market is characterized by high youth unemployment and notable informal employment; the growth of services depends on domestic demand and seasonality of tourism.

The gambling sector is compact and concentrated offline (casino, PPP, lottery) under the licenses of the regulator; contribution to GDP and employment is moderate, revenue is volatile due to tourist seasonality and sports calendar.

Gambling payments are dominated by cash; cards and local e-wallets are expanding, but they work under hard KYC/AML and technical certification.

The online vertical for residents is not licensed, so market statistics are based on offline channels and regulatory reporting.

• Macro: GDP (nominal/per capita), inflation, unemployment (including youth), current account balance, SACU share in budget revenues, export/import, tourist flow and hotel occupancy.
• Payments: cash/cards/mobile money shares in entertainment, average check, approvability of transactions, chargeback/fraud metrics.
• Gambling: GGR/NGR by vertical (casino/betting/lottery), tax burden, number of licenses and jobs, seasonality (months/events), RG indicators (self-exclusion, limits), compliance incidents and fines.