Sub-Saharan Africa · Low income
Mali: the economy in numbers
Per person: $1,193, or $3,503 at purchasing power parity. Population: 25.2 million (2025).
GDP in 2025, current US dollars: #114 of 204 economies. IMF forecast for 2026: +5.5%.
GDP
Adjusted for US inflation, in 2025 dollars: $2.66 billion in 1967, $30.1 billion in 2025.
GDP per capita
In 2025 dollars: $444 per person in 1967, $1,193 in 2025.
Real GDP growth
Average over 2016–2025: 4.2% a year. Years of falling GDP since 1968: 14 of 58.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Inflation
Consumer prices rose by 77.1% from 2000 to 2025. Highest annual inflation: 23.2% in 1994.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Government debt, % of GDP
Highest since 2000: 77.0% of GDP in 2000. IMF forecast for 2031: 39.8%.
Population
1960: 5.4 million · 2025: 25.2 million.
Unemployment rate
1991: 1.4% · 2025: 2.8%.
Life expectancy at birth
1960: 30.5 years · 2024: 60.7 years.
Exports of goods and services
1967: 11.4% · 2025: 22.1%.
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 | 5.2%f | 2.0%f | 39.8%f | |||||||
| 2030 | 5.3%f | 2.0%f | 39.4%f | |||||||
| 2029 | 5.3%f | 2.0%f | 39.1%f | |||||||
| 2028 | 5.5%f | 2.0%f | 38.9%f | |||||||
| 2027 | 5.7%f | 2.5%f | 39.0%f | |||||||
| 2026 | 5.5%f | 3.0%f | 39.7%f | |||||||
| 2025 | $30.1B | $1,193 | $3,503 | 5.6% | 3.3% | 40.3% | 25.2M | 2.8% | 22.1% | |
| 2024 | $26.8B | $1,093 | $3,322 | 5.0% | 3.2% | 44.0% | 24.5M | 2.9% | 60.7 | 22.3% |
| 2023 | $24.8B | $1,042 | $3,178 | 4.8% | 2.1% | 44.2% | 23.8M | 2.9% | 60.4 | 24.8% |
| 2022 | $22.5B | $977 | $3,014 | 3.7% | 9.6% | 42.9% | 23.1M | 2.4% | 60.0 | 26.0% |
| 2021 | $23B | $1,027 | $2,796 | 3.1% | 3.9% | 43.2% | 22.4M | 4.0% | 59.1 | 23.4% |
| 2020 | $20.7B | $953 | $2,724 | −1.2% | 0.4% | 39.8% | 21.7M | 3.5% | 58.9 | 25.1% |
| 2019 | $20.5B | $972 | $2,820 | 5.0% | −1.7% | 34.3% | 21.1M | 3.3% | 59.2 | 21.7% |
| 2018 | $20.4B | $996 | $2,684 | 4.9% | 0.3% | 31.4% | 20.4M | 1.6% | 58.9 | 20.6% |
| 2017 | $18.3B | $924 | $2,607 | 5.4% | 1.8% | 30.1% | 19.8M | 1.5% | 58.6 | 18.9% |
| 2016 | $16.7B | $872 | $2,532 | 6.0% | −1.8% | 30.1% | 19.2M | 1.4% | 58.3 | 19.7% |
| 2015 | $15.6B | $838 | $2,330 | 6.2% | 1.5% | 25.8% | 18.6M | 1.4% | 57.9 | 20.2% |
| 2014 | $17.1B | $948 | $2,185 | 6.5% | 0.9% | 22.6% | 18M | 1.5% | 57.5 | 19.0% |
| 2013 | $15.7B | $902 | $2,059 | 3.3% | −0.6% | 22.2% | 17.5M | 1.5% | 57.1 | 21.0% |
| 2012 | $14.8B | $873 | $1,990 | −1.1% | 5.3% | 21.3% | 17M | 1.5% | 56.7 | 22.6% |
| 2011 | $15.5B | $938 | $2,046 | 2.9% | 3.0% | 20.1% | 16.5M | 1.4% | 56.4 | 18.2% |
| 2010 | $12.7B | $797 | $2,012 | 5.6% | 1.1% | 21.8% | 15.9M | 1.4% | 56.0 | 19.2% |
| 2009 | $12.2B | $787 | $1,945 | 5.5% | 2.5% | 18.8% | 15.4M | 1.4% | 55.6 | 17.4% |
| 2008 | $11.5B | $767 | $1,893 | 3.6% | 9.2% | 17.3% | 14.9M | 1.4% | 55.2 | 20.7% |
| 2007 | $9.7B | $671 | $1,852 | 1.8% | 1.4% | 15.6% | 14.5M | 1.4% | 54.8 | 19.8% |
| 2006 | $8.21B | $587 | $1,832 | 3.7% | 1.5% | 15.4% | 14M | 1.4% | 54.3 | 22.7% |
| 2005 | $7.43B | $549 | $1,771 | 2.5% | 6.4% | 39.5% | 13.5M | 1.4% | 53.8 | 19.0% |
| 2004 | $6.49B | $495 | $1,730 | 1.5% | −3.1% | 36.1% | 13.1M | 1.4% | 53.3 | 18.8% |
| 2003 | $5.61B | $442 | $1,715 | 9.8% | −1.3% | 37.7% | 12.7M | 1.3% | 52.6 | 20.6% |
| 2002 | $4.65B | $378 | $1,581 | 3.0% | 5.0% | 36.0% | 12.3M | 1.4% | 52.0 | 22.6% |
| 2001 | $4.12B | $346 | $1,559 | 15.8% | 5.2% | 66.3% | 11.9M | 1.3% | 51.3 | 21.3% |
| 2000 | $3.52B | $305 | $1,357 | −0.7% | −0.7% | 77.0% | 11.6M | 1.4% | 50.6 | 18.3% |
| 1999 | $4.09B | $364 | $1,376 | 4.7% | −1.2% | 11.2M | 1.4% | 50.1 | 16.6% | |
| 1998 | $3.89B | $357 | $1,332 | 6.7% | 4.0% | 10.9M | 1.3% | 49.6 | 16.4% | |
| 1997 | $3.41B | $321 | $1,267 | 4.1% | −0.4% | 10.6M | 1.4% | 49.1 | 18.8% | |
| 1996 | $3.74B | $360 | $1,224 | 6.4% | 6.8% | 10.4M | 1.4% | 48.5 | 14.0% | |
| 1995 | $3.37B | $331 | $1,154 | 0.7% | 13.4% | 10.2M | 1.5% | 48.3 | 15.7% | |
| 1994 | $2.66B | $266 | $1,147 | 5.6% | 23.2% | 9.97M | 1.5% | 47.9 | 15.2% | |
| 1993 | $3.63B | $372 | $1,087 | 4.3% | −0.3% | 9.75M | 1.4% | 47.6 | 12.3% | |
| 1992 | $3.68B | $385 | $1,039 | −5.1% | −6.2% | 9.55M | 1.5% | 47.2 | 12.0% | |
| 1991 | $3.58B | $382 | $1,091 | 12.7% | 1.8% | 9.36M | 1.4% | 46.9 | 12.3% | |
| 1990 | $3.25B | $354 | $956 | −5.3% | 0.6% | 9.18M | 46.5 | 12.9% | ||
| 1989 | $2.82B | $314 | 3.6% | −0.1% | 9.0M | 46.2 | 12.2% | |||
| 1988 | $2.71B | $307 | 10.8% | 8.9% | 8.83M | 45.7 | 11.7% | |||
| 1987 | $2.44B | $281 | −0.8% | −14.9% | 8.68M | 45.2 | 13.9% | |||
| 1986 | $2.13B | $250 | −0.8% | −1.4% | 8.53M | 44.6 | 12.8% | |||
| 1985 | $1.59B | $190 | 13.2% | 9.1% | 8.37M | 43.9 | 14.6% | |||
| 1984 | $1.39B | $169 | −2.8% | 10.7% | 8.21M | 43.4 | 16.8% | |||
| 1983 | $1.5B | $186 | −2.3% | 10.5% | 8.03M | 42.7 | 13.9% | |||
| 1982 | $1.68B | $214 | −8.4% | 3.9% | 7.86M | 41.8 | 11.3% | |||
| 1981 | $2.23B | $290 | 2.2% | 12.7% | 7.69M | 41.0 | 9.0% | |||
| 1980 | $2.7B | $359 | −4.3% | 20.3% | 7.53M | 40.3 | 9.7% | |||
| 1979 | $1.6B | $216 | 10.4% | 7.38M | 39.5 | 12.0% | ||||
| 1978 | $1.22B | $169 | −1.5% | 7.23M | 38.8 | 11.6% | ||||
| 1977 | $1.05B | $148 | 6.3% | 7.09M | 38.0 | 12.8% | ||||
| 1976 | $939M | $135 | 13.6% | 6.96M | 37.2 | 11.0% | ||||
| 1975 | $831M | $121 | 11.6% | 6.84M | 36.5 | 9.7% | ||||
| 1974 | $539M | $80 | −1.5% | 6.72M | 35.7 | 12.7% | ||||
| 1973 | $564M | $85 | −1.5% | 6.6M | 35.1 | 10.2% | ||||
| 1972 | $487M | $75 | 5.8% | 6.48M | 34.5 | 10.0% | ||||
| 1971 | $395M | $62 | 2.6% | 6.38M | 33.8 | 13.4% | ||||
| 1970 | $360M | $57 | 6.1% | 6.28M | 33.4 | 12.5% | ||||
| 1969 | $340M | $55 | 0.2% | 6.18M | 32.9 | 11.2% | ||||
| 1968 | $344M | $57 | 3.7% | 6.08M | 32.6 | 10.2% | ||||
| 1967 | $275M | $46 | 5.99M | 32.2 | 11.4% | |||||
| 1966 | 5.9M | 31.8 | ||||||||
| 1965 | 5.82M | 31.5 | ||||||||
| 1964 | 5.73M | 31.2 | ||||||||
| 1963 | 5.65M | 31.0 | ||||||||
| 1962 | 5.56M | 30.8 | ||||||||
| 1961 | 5.48M | 30.6 | ||||||||
| 1960 | 5.4M | 30.5 |
e: IMF estimate; f: IMF forecast. Inflation: IMF data for 1980–1988, World Bank for the other years.
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)