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Top10Earth
Country guide· 15 min read

Zambia rankings 2026: where Zambia places in 92 global Top 10s

Zambia is #3 in Countries where most people cannot afford enough calories and inside the top 10 of 14 rankings. Every position, value and source, regenerated as the data refreshes.

Zambia appears in 92 of the 491 live country rankings on Top10Earth. This guide walks through every one of them: where Zambia is number one, where it makes the top 10, where it sits further down the table, and what has moved since the previous snapshot. Its best position is #3 in Countries where most people cannot afford enough calories, where it is measured at 64 % (Cannot afford sufficient calories) as of 2026-11-02. Zambia finishes inside the top 10 in 14 rankings.

Top 10 finishes

Zambia is inside the top 10 of 14 further rankings. Each entry names the country directly above it, which is the position to beat at the next refresh.

The remaining 2 top-10 positions are in the full list at the end of this guide.

Zambia by theme

The rankings are grouped by category below, so the economic picture, the health picture and the environmental picture can be read separately. Positions are out of the number of countries each source reports, which differs by ranking.

Health and wellbeing

In health and wellbeing, Zambia holds 21 positions: #9 of 50 in Countries with the most wildfire smoke emissions (PM2.5) (542.2 thousand tonnes), #18 of 50 in Countries with the highest malaria death rates (40.73 per 100,000 people), #19 of 50 in Countries with the highest birth rate (32.72 per 1,000 people) and #19 of 50 in Countries with the highest incidence of malaria (252.41 per 1,000 people at risk). 17 more rankings are listed below.

Finance and crypto

In finance and crypto, Zambia holds 19 positions: #3 of 50 in Countries with the highest income inequality (0.51 index (0-1)), #6 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people living on under $3 a day (71.7 % of population), #9 of 50 in Countries with the highest external debt as a share of income (114.2 %) and #9 of 50 in Countries with the highest income inequality before tax (67.69 Gini index). 15 more rankings are listed below.

Environment and energy

In environment and energy, Zambia holds 18 positions: #5 of 50 in Countries with the highest natural resource rents as a share of GDP (35.26 % of GDP), #6 of 50 in Countries with the largest share of forest in protected areas (82.55 %), #11 of 50 in Countries with the highest forest rents as a share of GDP (6.78 % of GDP) and #11 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of energy from renewables (83 % of total final energy consumption). 14 more rankings are listed below.

Food and agriculture

In food and agriculture, Zambia holds 17 positions: #3 of 50 in Countries where most people cannot afford enough calories (64 %), #4 of 50 in Countries with the highest wheat yields (7.09 tonnes per hectare), #5 of 50 in Countries with the highest barley yields (6.47 tonnes per hectare) and #5 of 50 in Countries with the highest sugar cane yields (103.68 tonnes per hectare). 13 more rankings are listed below.

World and society

In world and society, Zambia holds 16 positions: #4 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people in extreme poverty (71.66 %), #5 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people below national poverty lines (60 %), #11 of 50 in Countries with the most people in extreme poverty (14.4k thousand people) and #14 of 50 in Countries with the fastest growth in money supply (24.58 %). 12 more rankings are listed below.

Education and science

In education and science, Zambia holds 1 position: #26 of 50 in Countries with the longest pre-primary education (4 years).

What changed at the latest refresh

Comparing each ranking's newest snapshot with the one before it, Zambia moved in 87 rankings:

Where Zambia ranks lowest

A guide that only listed wins would be misleading. Zambia's lowest current positions are 50th of 50 in Countries producing the most beef (221.93 thousand tonnes), 49th of 50 in Countries with the highest nitrous oxide emissions (8.67 Mt CO2e) and 49th of 50 in Countries with the most agricultural land (16.98 million hectares). Whether a low position is good or bad depends on the metric: being near the bottom of an emissions or mortality ranking is the better place to be.

Every ranking that includes Zambia

How to read these numbers

Each ranking measures one metric from one named source at one time, so a #3 in one table and a #3 in another are not directly comparable. Countries also report in different years: the capture date is when Top10Earth fetched the data, while the source's own year is stated on each ranking page under methodology. For a side-by-side with another country on the same measures, open any ranking and use the head-to-head links, or visit Zambia's entity page for the live table and rank-history chart.

Top10Earth never estimates or edits a value. Each number is fetched from its source on a schedule, hashed, stored and ranked by software, then checked by a quality gate before it is published. If a refresh fails that gate the previous snapshot stays live and a person looks at why. Every past snapshot is kept, which is what makes the rank-history charts on each ranking page possible.

Questions people ask about Zambia

What is Zambia's best ranking on Top10Earth?

#3 in Countries where most people cannot afford enough calories, with 64 % (Cannot afford sufficient calories) as of 2026-11-02.

How many rankings include Zambia?

92 current country rankings out of 491 on the site.

Is Zambia in the top 10 of anything?

Yes: 14 rankings, including #3 in Countries where most people cannot afford enough calories, #3 in Countries with the highest income inequality and #4 in Countries with the highest share of people in extreme poverty.

Where do the numbers come from?

From Our World in Data and World Bank Open Data. Each ranking page names its source, metric definition and capture date.

When was this guide last updated?

The newest snapshot used here was captured on 2026-11-02. The guide is regenerated automatically as rankings refresh.

Live table and history →

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