Sub-Saharan Africa · Low income
Gambia: the economy in numbers
Per person: $919, or $3,706 at purchasing power parity. Population: 2.82 million (2025).
GDP in 2025, current US dollars: #180 of 204 economies. IMF forecast for 2026: +5.1%.
GDP
Adjusted for US inflation, in 2025 dollars: $439 million in 1966, $2.59 billion in 2025.
GDP per capita
In 2025 dollars: $937 per person in 1966, $919 in 2025.
Real GDP growth
Average over 2016–2025: 4.9% a year. Years of falling GDP since 1967: 9 of 59.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Inflation
Consumer prices rose 5.61 times from 2000 to 2024. Highest annual inflation: 56.6% in 1986.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Government debt, % of GDP
Highest since 2000: 93.9% of GDP in 2002. IMF forecast for 2031: 51.1%.
Population
1960: 398,060 · 2025: 2.82 million.
Unemployment rate
1991: 9.8% · 2025: 6.5%.
Life expectancy at birth
1960: 34.6 years · 2024: 66.1 years.
Exports of goods and services
1966: 36.2% · 2025: 12.7%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2031 | 5.0%f | 5.0%f | 51.1%f | |||||||
| 2030 | 5.0%f | 5.0%f | 55.7%f | |||||||
| 2029 | 5.0%f | 5.0%f | 60.1%f | |||||||
| 2028 | 5.1%f | 5.3%f | 64.7%f | |||||||
| 2027 | 5.1%f | 5.7%f | 70.4%f | |||||||
| 2026 | 5.1%f | 7.0%f | 67.4%f | |||||||
| 2025 | $2.59B | $919 | $3,706 | 5.9% | 7.9%e | 73.7%e | 2.82M | 6.5% | 12.7% | |
| 2024 | $2.4B | $871 | $3,481 | 5.6% | 11.6% | 75.9%e | 2.76M | 6.5% | 66.1 | 8.7% |
| 2023 | $2.38B | $883 | $3,292 | 5.9% | 17.0% | 77.4% | 2.7M | 6.5% | 65.9 | 7.1% |
| 2022 | $2.2B | $836 | $3,067 | 5.5% | 11.5% | 83.9% | 2.64M | 6.1% | 64.9 | 8.6% |
| 2021 | $2.01B | $782 | $2,778 | 5.3% | 7.4% | 83.1% | 2.58M | 6.2% | 63.8 | 6.6% |
| 2020 | $1.81B | $720 | $2,531 | 0.6% | 5.9% | 85.9% | 2.52M | 5.8% | 64.4 | 9.6% |
| 2019 | $1.81B | $738 | $2,422 | 6.2% | 7.1% | 83.0% | 2.46M | 4.5% | 64.4 | 20.2% |
| 2018 | $1.67B | $696 | $2,277 | 7.2% | 6.5% | 83.6% | 2.4M | 4.1% | 64.0 | 22.3% |
| 2017 | $1.5B | $643 | $2,039 | 4.8% | 8.0% | 87.0% | 2.34M | 5.1% | 63.7 | 18.5% |
| 2016 | $1.48B | $650 | $2,013 | 1.9% | 7.2% | 80.9% | 2.28M | 6.2% | 63.4 | 12.8% |
| 2015 | $1.38B | $620 | $1,990 | 4.1% | 6.8% | 69.4% | 2.22M | 7.2% | 63.0 | 15.6% |
| 2014 | $1.23B | $568 | $1,934 | −1.4% | 5.9% | 71.1% | 2.16M | 8.2% | 62.6 | 21.8% |
| 2013 | $1.38B | $654 | $2,007 | 2.9% | 5.7% | 58.2% | 2.1M | 9.5% | 62.3 | 19.0% |
| 2012 | $1.42B | $693 | $2,065 | 5.2% | 4.3% | 49.5% | 2.04M | 10.3% | 61.9 | 19.8% |
| 2011 | $1.41B | $711 | $2,064 | −8.1% | 4.8% | 49.2% | 1.98M | 10.3% | 61.6 | 16.9% |
| 2010 | $1.54B | $801 | $2,267 | 5.9% | 5.0% | 42.9% | 1.93M | 9.7% | 61.2 | 14.7% |
| 2009 | $1.45B | $775 | $2,177 | 6.7% | 4.6% | 38.9% | 1.87M | 9.8% | 60.7 | 15.7% |
| 2008 | $1.56B | $859 | $2,088 | 6.3% | 4.4% | 39.5% | 1.82M | 10.1% | 60.5 | 14.5% |
| 2007 | $1.28B | $725 | $1,985 | 3.0% | 5.4% | 38.0% | 1.77M | 10.4% | 60.0 | 18.0% |
| 2006 | $1.05B | $615 | $1,931 | −0.6% | 2.1% | 87.3% | 1.72M | 10.2% | 59.7 | 21.0% |
| 2005 | $1.03B | $616 | $1,938 | −2.4% | 4.8% | 82.6% | 1.67M | 9.9% | 59.1 | 19.9% |
| 2004 | $962M | $593 | $1,979 | 7.1% | 14.2% | 81.3% | 1.62M | 9.9% | 58.7 | 20.6% |
| 2003 | $487M | $309 | $1,850 | 6.9% | 17.0% | 91.7% | 1.58M | 10.0% | 58.2 | 31.1% |
| 2002 | $578M | $377 | $1,744 | −3.3% | 8.6% | 93.9% | 1.54M | 10.0% | 57.7 | 27.2% |
| 2001 | $687M | $460 | $1,823 | 5.8% | 4.5% | 75.2% | 1.5M | 9.6% | 57.3 | 21.8% |
| 2000 | $783M | $538 | $1,731 | 5.5% | 0.8% | 73.3% | 1.46M | 9.7% | 56.9 | 25.8% |
| 1999 | $815M | $575 | $1,649 | 6.4% | 3.8% | 1.42M | 9.7% | 56.5 | 24.4% | |
| 1998 | $840M | $610 | $1,572 | 3.5% | 1.1% | 1.38M | 9.9% | 56.0 | 25.3% | |
| 1997 | $804M | $600 | $1,544 | 4.9% | 2.8% | 1.34M | 10.0% | 55.2 | 22.9% | |
| 1996 | $848M | $652 | $1,489 | 2.2% | 1.1% | 1.3M | 10.2% | 54.8 | 21.8% | |
| 1995 | $786M | $622 | $1,472 | 0.9% | 7.0% | 1.26M | 10.2% | 54.3 | 23.8% | |
| 1994 | $746M | $608 | $1,473 | 0.2% | 1.7% | 1.23M | 10.0% | 53.8 | 21.2% | |
| 1993 | $755M | $635 | $1,487 | 3.0% | 6.5% | 1.19M | 9.9% | 53.1 | 28.2% | |
| 1992 | $714M | $623 | $1,462 | 3.4% | 9.5% | 1.15M | 9.9% | 52.5 | 30.6% | |
| 1991 | $690M | $628 | $1,440 | 3.1% | 8.6% | 1.1M | 9.8% | 51.9 | 29.4% | |
| 1990 | $317M | $301 | $1,409 | 3.6% | 12.2% | 1.05M | 51.3 | 59.9% | ||
| 1989 | $284M | $281 | 5.9% | 8.3% | 1.01M | 50.7 | 55.1% | |||
| 1988 | $267M | $275 | 4.5% | 11.7% | 970K | 50.1 | 50.4% | |||
| 1987 | $221M | $237 | 2.5% | 23.5% | 931K | 49.4 | 49.4% | |||
| 1986 | $186M | $208 | 4.1% | 56.6% | 894K | 48.8 | 46.6% | |||
| 1985 | $226M | $263 | −0.8% | 18.3% | 859K | 48.2 | 43.9% | |||
| 1984 | $177M | $215 | 3.5% | 22.1% | 826K | 47.5 | 51.1% | |||
| 1983 | $213M | $269 | 10.9% | 10.6% | 795K | 46.9 | 50.5% | |||
| 1982 | $216M | $282 | −0.8% | 10.9% | 766K | 46.2 | 44.3% | |||
| 1981 | $219M | $296 | 3.3% | 5.9% | 739K | 44.5 | 44.0% | |||
| 1980 | $241M | $338 | 6.3% | 6.8% | 714K | 45.0 | 42.7% | |||
| 1979 | $207M | $300 | −1.3% | 6.1% | 690K | 44.5 | 35.0% | |||
| 1978 | $172M | $258 | 6.3% | 8.9% | 667K | 43.6 | 33.7% | |||
| 1977 | $138M | $214 | 3.4% | 12.4% | 646K | 43.4 | 36.7% | |||
| 1976 | $112M | $179 | 7.4% | 17.0% | 626K | 42.9 | 41.1% | |||
| 1975 | $115M | $190 | 12.4% | 25.9% | 607K | 42.2 | 44.7% | |||
| 1974 | $95.8M | $163 | 5.9% | 9.2% | 589K | 41.7 | 39.0% | |||
| 1973 | $75.2M | $131 | 9.3% | 6.9% | 572K | 41.1 | 35.1% | |||
| 1972 | $59.2M | $107 | 0.2% | 8.7% | 555K | 40.5 | 33.8% | |||
| 1971 | $55.7M | $103 | −0.1% | 3.1% | 539K | 40.0 | 32.4% | |||
| 1970 | $52.3M | $100 | 6.2% | −2.0% | 524K | 39.5 | 37.8% | |||
| 1969 | $45.2M | $89 | 2.4% | 5.0% | 509K | 39.0 | 40.4% | |||
| 1968 | $41.2M | $83 | 9.6% | 4.2% | 495K | 38.5 | 40.0% | |||
| 1967 | $46.7M | $97 | 0.0% | 1.4% | 482K | 38.1 | 40.5% | |||
| 1966 | $44.2M | $94 | 0.2% | 469K | 37.6 | 36.2% | ||||
| 1965 | 1.2% | 456K | 37.1 | |||||||
| 1964 | −4.5% | 444K | 36.6 | |||||||
| 1963 | 4.6% | 432K | 36.1 | |||||||
| 1962 | 1.8% | 420K | 35.6 | |||||||
| 1961 | 409K | 35.1 | ||||||||
| 1960 | 398K | 34.6 |
e: IMF estimate; f: IMF forecast.
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)