Map of World’s Highest Interest Rates in 2026

From Latin America to the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe, today’s map of the world’s highest interest rates tells a story of economies buying time in an era shaped by post-pandemic shocks, disrupted supply chains, war in Ukraine, and an extended period of global monetary tightening.

In the aftermath of Covid-19, many countries were hit by a rare combination of surging prices, capital outflows, and weakening currencies. As inflation spread and trust in monetary stability wavered, central banks were left with few options other than aggressive rate hikes, often pushing borrowing costs to levels unseen in decades.

Top Interest Rates by Country

🇻🇪 Venezuela  ≈ 59%

🇹🇷 Turkey  37% (Jan 2026, after rate cut)

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe  ≈ 35%

🇦🇷 Argentina  ≈ 29%

🇳🇬 Nigeria  ≈ 27%

🇮🇷 Iran  ≈ 23%

🇪🇬 Egypt  20–21%

🇷🇺 Russia 16%

🇺🇦 Ukraine  15.5%

🇧🇷 Brazil  15%

🇧🇩 Bangladesh  10.25%

🇨🇴 Colombia  9.25%

🇲🇽 Mexico  8.5%

Latin America

In Mexico, the central bank raised interest rates to around 8.5% in December 2025, aiming to attract foreign investment, support the peso, and rein in inflation amid uncertainty over global trade and US economic policy.

Colombia, facing higher food and fuel prices and weaker oil revenues, kept its benchmark rate at 9.25%, unchanged since April 2025. The goal: curb spending, cool prices, and maintain the country’s appeal to yield-hungry investors.

Brazil, long grappling with structural imbalances, has pursued one of the world’s most prolonged tightening cycles. Its policy rate reached 15% in January 2026, reflecting an effort to suppress demand, encourage saving, and anchor inflation expectations after years of economic shocks.

Argentina, no stranger to financial crises, has pushed rates to around 29% in a bid to confront triple-digit inflation and break a cycle of excessive borrowing and spending.

At the extreme end stands Venezuela, which tops the global ranking with interest rates near 59%. Years of hyperinflation, currency instability, and mismanagement have left policymakers with little choice but to rely on punishingly high rates as a last attempt to stabilize the economy.

Asia 

In Bangladesh, rates climbed to around 10.25% in December 2025, as authorities sought to contain inflation, defend the currency, and protect dwindling foreign exchange reserves in a highly import-dependent economy.

Pakistan raised its benchmark rate to about 10.5%, using tight monetary policy to slow inflation, support the currency, and manage an economy burdened by debt and recurring reliance on international financial assistance.

Europe and Eurasia

Ukraine, operating under the strain of war, kept interest rates at 15.5% in 2025. The priority is not growth, but survival, limiting inflation, slowing currency depreciation, and preserving a degree of financial stability amid disrupted production and supply chains.

In Russia, sanctions-driven inflation and heavy fiscal spending pushed rates sharply higher. While they peaked near 21%, the benchmark rate stood at 16% in January 2026, reflecting continued efforts to absorb excess liquidity and support the ruble.

Turkey represents one of the most dramatic reversals. After years of unorthodox policy and soaring inflation, the central bank raised rates to as high as 46%. In January 2026, it cautiously began easing, cutting the main policy rate to 37%, as inflation slowed to 30.9% in December, still high, but trending downward.

Middle East and Africa

In Egypt, interest rates had previously averaged around 25.5%, aimed at curbing demand and attracting hard currency inflows. After a 100-basis-point cut in December 2025, the central bank held rates steady at 20% for deposits and 21% for lending through January 2026, balancing inflation control with growth concerns.

Nigeria, following years of policy distortions and declining purchasing power, raised rates aggressively to around 27% by the end of 2025, hoping to tame inflation, stabilize the naira, and rebuild investor confidence.

Iran, constrained by long-standing sanctions and chronic inflation, has kept rates near 23%, using monetary tightening as one of the few available tools to counter currency depreciation and rising import costs.

In Zimbabwe, where monetary instability has a long history, interest rates hovered near 35% in 2025, reflecting ongoing efforts to manage excess liquidity after past episodes of hyperinflation.