East Asia & Pacific · High income
Nauru: the economy in numbers
Per person: $14,640, or $14,200 at purchasing power parity. Population: 12,025 (2025).
GDP in 2025, current US dollars: #203 of 204 economies. IMF forecast for 2026: +2.1%.
GDP
Adjusted for US inflation, in 2025 dollars: $146 million in 1970, $176 million in 2025.
GDP per capita
In 2025 dollars: $21,732 per person in 1970, $14,640 in 2025.
Real GDP growth
Average over 2016–2025: 1.7% a year. Years of falling GDP since 1971: 33 of 55.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Inflation
Highest annual inflation: 22.4% in 2009.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Government debt, % of GDP
Highest since 2009: 298.9% of GDP in 2010. IMF forecast for 2031: 0.1%.
Population
1960: 4,607 · 2025: 12,025.
Life expectancy at birth
1960: 57.9 years · 2024: 62.3 years.
Exports of goods and services
2008: 90.5% · 2025: 61.8%.
Data by year
Show the year-by-year table
| Year | GDP | GDP per capita | Per capita, PPP | Real growth | Inflation | Gov. debt, % GDP | Population | Life expectancy | Exports, % GDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2031 | 2.0%f | 2.5%f | 0.1%f | ||||||
| 2030 | 2.0%f | 2.5%f | 0.1%f | ||||||
| 2029 | 2.0%f | 2.7%f | 0.4%f | ||||||
| 2028 | 2.0%f | 3.4%f | 1.2%f | ||||||
| 2027 | 2.0%f | 4.3%f | 1.6%f | ||||||
| 2026 | 2.1%f | 5.7%f | 2.6%f | ||||||
| 2025 | $176M | $14,640 | $14,200 | 2.1% | 6.1%e | 12.2% | 12K | 61.8% | |
| 2024 | $168M | $14,048 | $13,612 | 1.4% | 9.3% | 16.5% | 11.9K | 62.3 | 53.5% |
| 2023 | $162M | $13,603 | $13,172 | −0.7% | 4.8% | 19.2% | 11.9K | 62.1 | 40.8% |
| 2022 | $181M | $15,310 | $12,874 | 0.0% | 1.1% | 18.9% | 11.8K | 61.9 | 45.4% |
| 2021 | $149M | $12,748 | $12,114 | 7.8% | 2.0% | 24.2% | 11.7K | 61.3 | 36.2% |
| 2020 | $125M | $10,709 | $10,813 | 1.6% | 0.9% | 56.3% | 11.6K | 61.5 | 43.6% |
| 2019 | $125M | $10,802 | $10,555 | 8.5% | 4.1% | 59.6% | 11.6K | 61.4 | 60.4% |
| 2018 | $131M | $11,414 | $9,657 | −0.8% | 1.1% | 71.1% | 11.5K | 61.2 | 54.7% |
| 2017 | $109M | $9,657 | $9,650 | −6.3% | 4.5% | 78.0% | 11.3K | 61.1 | 60.0% |
| 2016 | $97.5M | $8,748 | $10,281 | 4.1% | 8.1% | 86.3% | 11.2K | 61.0 | 72.4% |
| 2015 | $84.9M | $7,747 | $9,955 | 3.4% | 9.8% | 113.0% | 11K | 60.9 | 71.6% |
| 2014 | $99.1M | $9,230 | $9,726 | 15.8% | 0.3% | 147.7% | 10.7K | 60.8 | 99.1% |
| 2013 | $94.4M | $8,975 | $8,429 | 4.1% | −1.1% | 166.9% | 10.5K | 60.7 | 101.1% |
| 2012 | $101M | $9,843 | $8,153 | 24.4% | −0.1% | 157.3% | 10.3K | 60.5 | 68.4% |
| 2011 | $65.1M | $6,444 | $6,544 | 14.7% | 0.3% | 236.8% | 10.1K | 60.3 | 62.1% |
| 2010 | $47.6M | $4,736 | $5,620 | 0.0% | −2.0% | 298.9% | 10K | 60.1 | 51.9% |
| 2009 | $44.2M | $4,411 | $5,568 | −5.6% | 22.4% | 295.6% | 10K | 59.9 | 83.3% |
| 2008 | $37.6M | $3,757 | $5,863 | 20.0% | 1.0% | 10K | 59.7 | 90.5% | |
| 2007 | $22.8M | $2,272 | $4,789 | −22.1% | 5.6% | 10K | 59.5 | ||
| 2006 | $29.2M | $2,910 | $5,975 | 8.5% | 19.3% | 10K | 59.4 | ||
| 2005 | $30.1M | $2,992 | $5,336 | 0.0% | 8.7% | 10K | 59.4 | ||
| 2004 | $30.6M | $3,041 | $5,169 | −4.3% | 10.1K | 59.3 | |||
| 2003 | $24.8M | $2,463 | $5,261 | 0.3% | 10.1K | 59.4 | |||
| 2002 | $21M | $2,085 | $5,132 | −10.0% | 10.1K | 59.4 | |||
| 2001 | $22.6M | $2,232 | $5,587 | −6.8% | 10.1K | 59.5 | |||
| 2000 | $26.9M | $2,649 | $5,838 | −6.9% | 10.2K | 59.6 | |||
| 1999 | $27.3M | $2,683 | $6,118 | −6.6% | 10.2K | 59.7 | |||
| 1998 | $29.7M | $2,909 | $6,450 | −11.8% | 10.2K | 59.9 | |||
| 1997 | $37.3M | $3,661 | $7,231 | −9.0% | 10.2K | 60.0 | |||
| 1996 | $37.5M | $3,679 | $7,818 | −11.9% | 10.2K | 60.1 | |||
| 1995 | $40M | $3,932 | $8,726 | −7.9% | 10.2K | 60.1 | |||
| 1994 | $39.7M | $3,921 | $9,308 | −3.9% | 10.1K | 60.0 | |||
| 1993 | $43.5M | $4,310 | $9,513 | −16.1% | 10.1K | 59.8 | |||
| 1992 | $51.1M | $5,103 | $11,167 | −16.3% | 10K | 59.5 | |||
| 1991 | $52.5M | $5,333 | $13,265 | −19.0% | 9.85K | 59.3 | |||
| 1990 | $55.6M | $5,776 | $16,215 | −2.8% | 9.62K | 59.1 | |||
| 1989 | $53.7M | $5,723 | −2.8% | 9.39K | 58.9 | ||||
| 1988 | $45.9M | $5,012 | −2.8% | 9.16K | 58.7 | ||||
| 1987 | $40.1M | $4,485 | −2.8% | 8.95K | 58.6 | ||||
| 1986 | $39.9M | $4,569 | −2.8% | 8.74K | 58.6 | ||||
| 1985 | $41.5M | $4,859 | −2.8% | 8.55K | 58.6 | ||||
| 1984 | $47.4M | $5,654 | −2.8% | 8.38K | 58.7 | ||||
| 1983 | $48.4M | $5,896 | −2.8% | 8.22K | 58.7 | ||||
| 1982 | $52.9M | $6,577 | −2.8% | 8.04K | 58.6 | ||||
| 1981 | $51.7M | $6,594 | −2.8% | 7.84K | 58.6 | ||||
| 1980 | $46.9M | $6,138 | −2.8% | 7.65K | 58.5 | ||||
| 1979 | $44.4M | $5,950 | −2.8% | 7.47K | 58.4 | ||||
| 1978 | $41.8M | $5,721 | −2.8% | 7.3K | 58.3 | ||||
| 1977 | $40.4M | $5,646 | −2.8% | 7.16K | 58.1 | ||||
| 1976 | $40.3M | $5,703 | −2.8% | 7.06K | 58.2 | ||||
| 1975 | $40.1M | $5,740 | 2.9% | 6.99K | 58.3 | ||||
| 1974 | $36M | $5,199 | 2.9% | 6.92K | 58.3 | ||||
| 1973 | $26.5M | $3,864 | 2.9% | 6.87K | 58.4 | ||||
| 1972 | $21.7M | $3,191 | 2.9% | 6.81K | 58.4 | ||||
| 1971 | $19M | $2,811 | 2.9% | 6.76K | 58.4 | ||||
| 1970 | $17.6M | $2,619 | 6.71K | 58.4 | |||||
| 1969 | 6.58K | 58.4 | |||||||
| 1968 | 6.33K | 58.6 | |||||||
| 1967 | 6.13K | 58.6 | |||||||
| 1966 | 6.04K | 58.4 | |||||||
| 1965 | 5.83K | 58.3 | |||||||
| 1964 | 5.51K | 58.2 | |||||||
| 1963 | 5.23K | 58.1 | |||||||
| 1962 | 4.98K | 58.0 | |||||||
| 1961 | 4.77K | 58.0 | |||||||
| 1960 | 4.61K | 57.9 |
e: IMF estimate; f: IMF forecast. Inflation: IMF data for 2005–2010, 2013–2024, World Bank for the other years.
Nearby economies in East Asia & Pacific
Nearest by distance between capitals, with GDP per capita.
American Samoa · Australia · Brunei · Cambodia · China · Fiji · French Polynesia · Guam · Hong Kong · Indonesia · Japan · Kiribati · Laos · Macao · Malaysia · Marshall Islands · Micronesia · Mongolia · Myanmar · Nauru · New Caledonia · New Zealand · North Korea · Northern Mariana Islands · Palau · Papua New Guinea · Philippines · Samoa · Singapore · Solomon Islands · South Korea · Thailand · Timor-Leste · Tonga · Tuvalu · Vanuatu · Vietnam
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.
- Fiscal year: the IMF reports this economy by fiscal year (latest actual: FY2020/21), so IMF numbers can differ from calendar-year World Bank figures.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)