Sub-Saharan Africa · Low income
Eritrea: the economy in numbers
Per person: $689, or $1,742 at purchasing power parity. Population: 3.61 million (2025).
GDP in 2011, current US dollars.
GDP
Adjusted for US inflation, in 2025 dollars: $1.1 billion in 1992, $2.96 billion in 2011.
GDP per capita
In 2025 dollars: $609 per person in 1992, $987 in 2011.
Real GDP growth
Average over 2010–2019: 1.8% a year. Years of falling GDP since 1993: 7 of 27.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Inflation
Highest annual inflation: 33.9% in 2009.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Government debt, % of GDP
Highest since 2000: 290.4% of GDP in 2017.
Population
1960: 972,547 · 2025: 3.61 million.
Unemployment rate
1991: 5.1% · 2025: 6.0%.
Life expectancy at birth
1960: 37.4 years · 2024: 68.9 years.
Exports of goods and services
1992: 11.4% · 2011: 18.2%.
Data by year
Show the year-by-year table
| Year | GDP | GDP per capita | Per capita, PPP | Real growth | Inflation | Gov. debt, % GDP | Population | Unemployment | Life expectancy | Exports, % GDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.61M | 6.0% | ||||||||
| 2024 | 3.54M | 5.9% | 68.9 | |||||||
| 2023 | 3.47M | 5.9% | 68.6 | |||||||
| 2022 | 3.41M | 6.0% | 67.8 | |||||||
| 2021 | 3.35M | 6.5% | 66.9 | |||||||
| 2020 | 3.29M | 6.4% | 67.0 | |||||||
| 2019 | 3.8% | 1.3% | 260.4% | 3.24M | 5.8% | 67.3 | ||||
| 2018 | 13.0% | −14.4% | 267.1% | 3.19M | 5.8% | 67.0 | ||||
| 2017 | −10.0% | −13.3% | 290.4% | 3.15M | 5.8% | 66.6 | ||||
| 2016 | 7.4% | −5.6% | 251.2% | 3.12M | 5.8% | 66.2 | ||||
| 2015 | −20.6% | 28.5% | 271.4% | 3.11M | 5.8% | 65.9 | ||||
| 2014 | 30.9% | 8.4% | 204.5% | 3.1M | 5.6% | 65.5 | ||||
| 2013 | −10.5% | 6.3% | 232.4% | 3.07M | 5.6% | 65.0 | ||||
| 2012 | 1.9% | 6.0% | 171.6% | 3.04M | 5.7% | 64.7 | ||||
| 2011 | $2.07B | $689 | $1,742 | 8.7% | 5.9% | 171.6% | 3.0M | 5.8% | 64.2 | 18.2% |
| 2010 | $1.59B | $540 | $1,599 | 2.2% | 10.3% | 201.8% | 2.95M | 5.9% | 63.7 | 6.4% |
| 2009 | $1.86B | $643 | $1,577 | 3.9% | 33.9% | 207.1% | 2.89M | 5.8% | 63.2 | 4.5% |
| 2008 | $1.38B | $490 | $1,547 | −9.8% | 22.2% | 259.7% | 2.82M | 5.7% | 62.4 | 4.4% |
| 2007 | $1.32B | $480 | $1,727 | 1.4% | 9.4% | 201.3% | 2.74M | 5.7% | 62.0 | 5.8% |
| 2006 | $1.21B | $448 | $1,682 | −1.0% | 7.7% | 199.0% | 2.7M | 5.7% | 61.5 | 6.9% |
| 2005 | $1.1B | $413 | $1,674 | 2.6% | 12.5% | 205.4% | 2.66M | 5.7% | 60.6 | 6.2% |
| 2004 | $1.11B | $427 | $1,621 | 1.5% | 25.1% | 193.5% | 2.6M | 5.7% | 60.1 | 5.8% |
| 2003 | $870M | $349 | $1,621 | −2.7% | 22.7% | 264.0% | 2.49M | 5.8% | 59.5 | 6.4% |
| 2002 | $729M | $305 | $1,702 | 3.0% | 16.9% | 243.4% | 2.39M | 5.8% | 58.9 | 11.8% |
| 2001 | $752M | $325 | $1,684 | 8.8% | 14.6% | 238.6% | 2.31M | 5.7% | 58.4 | 10.8% |
| 2000 | $706M | $314 | $1,558 | −3.1% | 19.9% | 219.1% | 2.25M | 5.7% | 56.3 | 9.7% |
| 1999 | $689M | $311 | $1,597 | 0.0% | 8.4% | 2.21M | 5.6% | 44.5 | 9.5% | |
| 1998 | $746M | $342 | $1,598 | 1.8% | 9.5% | 2.18M | 5.5% | 50.0 | 14.8% | |
| 1997 | $686M | $319 | $1,573 | 7.9% | 3.7% | 2.15M | 5.4% | 56.2 | 29.6% | |
| 1996 | $694M | $326 | $1,449 | 9.3% | 10.3% | 2.13M | 5.3% | 55.5 | 29.2% | |
| 1995 | $578M | $285 | $1,369 | 2.9% | 12.0% | 2.03M | 5.3% | 54.8 | 22.4% | |
| 1994 | $532M | $278 | $1,379 | 21.2% | 13.1% | 1.91M | 5.4% | 54.0 | 28.0% | |
| 1993 | $468M | $252 | $1,149 | 13.5% | 4.8% | 1.86M | 5.4% | 53.2 | 30.6% | |
| 1992 | $477M | $265 | $1,021 | 1.8M | 5.3% | 52.4 | 11.4% | |||
| 1991 | 1.92M | 5.1% | 50.5 | |||||||
| 1990 | 2.03M | 49.7 | ||||||||
| 1989 | 1.99M | 47.8 | ||||||||
| 1988 | 1.94M | 48.1 | ||||||||
| 1987 | 1.89M | 47.4 | ||||||||
| 1986 | 1.85M | 39.5 | ||||||||
| 1985 | 1.81M | 38.6 | ||||||||
| 1984 | 1.77M | 37.7 | ||||||||
| 1983 | 1.74M | 37.2 | ||||||||
| 1982 | 1.7M | 44.9 | ||||||||
| 1981 | 1.65M | 45.0 | ||||||||
| 1980 | 1.61M | 44.6 | ||||||||
| 1979 | 1.56M | 43.8 | ||||||||
| 1978 | 1.52M | 43.4 | ||||||||
| 1977 | 1.48M | 43.0 | ||||||||
| 1976 | 1.44M | 42.6 | ||||||||
| 1975 | 1.41M | 39.0 | ||||||||
| 1974 | 1.38M | 39.0 | ||||||||
| 1973 | 1.34M | 41.1 | ||||||||
| 1972 | 1.31M | 40.7 | ||||||||
| 1971 | 1.28M | 41.5 | ||||||||
| 1970 | 1.24M | 41.2 | ||||||||
| 1969 | 1.21M | 40.8 | ||||||||
| 1968 | 1.18M | 40.5 | ||||||||
| 1967 | 1.15M | 40.2 | ||||||||
| 1966 | 1.12M | 37.6 | ||||||||
| 1965 | 1.1M | 39.6 | ||||||||
| 1964 | 1.07M | 39.2 | ||||||||
| 1963 | 1.05M | 38.8 | ||||||||
| 1962 | 1.02M | 38.3 | ||||||||
| 1961 | 996K | 37.9 | ||||||||
| 1960 | 973K | 37.4 |
e: IMF estimate; f: IMF forecast. Real growth: IMF data for 2012–2019, World Bank for the other years. Inflation: IMF data.
Nearby economies in Sub-Saharan Africa
Nearest by distance between capitals, with GDP per capita.
Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cabo Verde · Cameroon · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Côte d’Ivoire · DR Congo · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Gabon · Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Republic of the Congo · Rwanda · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · South Sudan · Sudan · São Tomé and Príncipe · Tanzania · Togo · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe
Rankings
GDP by country · GDP per capita · Real GDP growth · Inflation by country · Government debt to GDP · Stock market to GDP · Population by country · Unemployment by country
Data and methods
- GDP: gross domestic product in current US dollars, converted from the local currency at market exchange rates (World Bank); not adjusted for inflation.
- Purchasing power parity (PPP): GDP per person in international dollars, which buy the same basket of goods and services in every country. It compares living standards across countries in the same year; it is not adjusted for inflation over time.
- In 2025 dollars: the charts can remove US inflation (US consumer price index, annual average) so that dollar amounts from different years compare in today's money. Exchange rate swings still show.
- Growth and inflation: World Bank data (calendar years). Years the World Bank does not cover yet, and the estimates and forecasts, come from the IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026): its forecasts start in 2026, and the years after a country's last actual year are IMF estimates.
- Government debt: gross debt of the general government (central, state and local government and social security funds) as a percentage of GDP, IMF. The World Bank's central government debt is narrower and covers fewer countries.
- Stock market capitalization: the end-of-year value of domestic companies listed on the country's exchanges (World Federation of Exchanges via the World Bank; before 2016, Standard & Poor's), as a percentage of GDP: the “Buffett indicator”. Investment funds are excluded, and so are companies listed only abroad; companies from elsewhere that list on an exchange count for its country (Hong Kong lists many mainland Chinese companies).
- Unemployment: ILO modeled estimates (share of the labor force); comparable across countries, but they may differ from national figures.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)