East Asia & Pacific · Lower middle income
Timor-Leste: the economy in numbers
Per person: $1,341, or $4,809 at purchasing power parity. Population: 1.42 million (2025).
GDP in 2025, current US dollars: #186 of 204 economies. IMF forecast for 2026: +4.0%.
GDP
Adjusted for US inflation, in 2025 dollars: $316 million in 1990, $1.9 billion in 2025.
GDP per capita
In 2025 dollars: $416 per person in 1990, $1,341 in 2025.
Real GDP growth
Average over 2016–2025: 0.8% a year. Years of falling GDP since 1991: 10 of 35.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Inflation
Consumer prices rose 2.73 times from 2002 to 2025. Highest annual inflation: 13.5% in 2011.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Government debt, % of GDP
Highest since 2001: 13.6% of GDP in 2024. IMF forecast for 2031: 15.3%.
Population
1960: 468,118 · 2025: 1.42 million.
Unemployment rate
1991: 3.5% · 2025: 1.6%.
Life expectancy at birth
1960: 32.4 years · 2024: 67.9 years.
Exports of goods and services
2000: 10.6% · 2024: 10.6%.
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 | 3.2%f | 2.0%f | 15.3%f | |||||||
| 2030 | 3.3%f | 2.0%f | 13.9%f | |||||||
| 2029 | 3.4%f | 2.0%f | 13.8%f | |||||||
| 2028 | 3.7%f | 2.0%f | 13.8%f | |||||||
| 2027 | 3.7%f | 2.2%f | 13.9%f | |||||||
| 2026 | 4.0%f | 2.1%f | 13.9%f | |||||||
| 2025 | $1.9B | $1,341 | $4,809 | 7.0% | 0.4% | 13.3%e | 1.42M | 1.6% | ||
| 2024 | $1.87B | $1,332 | $4,429 | −9.1% | 2.1% | 13.6% | 1.4M | 1.5% | 67.9 | 10.6% |
| 2023 | $2.08B | $1,502 | $4,811 | −18.1% | 8.4% | 12.2% | 1.38M | 1.5% | 67.7 | 22.9% |
| 2022 | $3.21B | $2,343 | $5,729 | −20.5% | 7.0% | 7.6% | 1.37M | 1.5% | 67.4 | 55.6% |
| 2021 | $3.63B | $2,685 | $6,825 | 5.4% | 3.7% | 6.5% | 1.35M | 2.3% | 66.2 | 63.5% |
| 2020 | $2.16B | $1,631 | $6,132 | 31.7% | 0.5% | 10.1% | 1.33M | 2.8% | 66.9 | 36.7% |
| 2019 | $2.03B | $1,562 | $4,557 | 24.2% | 1.0% | 9.5% | 1.3M | 3.1% | 66.5 | 21.2% |
| 2018 | $1.56B | $1,219 | $3,561 | −0.5% | 2.6% | 9.3% | 1.28M | 3.8% | 66.2 | 2.9% |
| 2017 | $1.58B | $1,266 | $3,463 | −3.2% | 0.6% | 6.7% | 1.25M | 4.3% | 65.9 | 2.4% |
| 2016 | $1.64B | $1,336 | $3,391 | 3.0% | −1.3% | 4.7% | 1.23M | 4.7% | 65.6 | 3.2% |
| 2015 | $1.59B | $1,320 | $3,108 | 2.5% | 0.6% | 2.9% | 1.21M | 3.7% | 65.3 | 3.1% |
| 2014 | $1.45B | $1,225 | $2,860 | 4.5% | 0.7% | 1.5% | 1.18M | 3.6% | 65.0 | 4.6% |
| 2013 | $1.4B | $1,205 | $2,566 | 3.1% | 11.1% | 0.5% | 1.16M | 3.6% | 64.7 | 5.6% |
| 2012 | $1.16B | $1,023 | $2,386 | 4.9% | 11.8% | 0.0% | 1.13M | 3.5% | 64.4 | 7.1% |
| 2011 | $1.04B | $939 | $2,066 | 6.0% | 13.5% | 0.0% | 1.11M | 3.4% | 64.0 | 6.4% |
| 2010 | $882M | $813 | $1,955 | 9.3% | 6.8% | 0.0% | 1.08M | 3.3% | 63.7 | 8.6% |
| 2009 | $727M | $687 | $1,810 | 10.1% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 1.06M | 3.3% | 63.3 | 9.2% |
| 2008 | $649M | $628 | $1,675 | 11.4% | 9.1% | 0.0% | 1.03M | 3.4% | 62.9 | 9.3% |
| 2007 | $543M | $540 | $1,516 | 10.3% | 10.3% | 0.0% | 1.0M | 3.5% | 62.4 | 10.0% |
| 2006 | $454M | $465 | $1,377 | −4.1% | 3.9% | 0.0% | 977K | 3.6% | 61.9 | 9.2% |
| 2005 | $462M | $487 | $1,435 | 3.0% | 1.1% | 0.0% | 948K | 3.6% | 61.3 | 7.1% |
| 2004 | $441M | $474 | $1,379 | 0.4% | 3.2% | 0.0% | 929K | 3.7% | 60.7 | 7.5% |
| 2003 | $490M | $535 | $1,355 | −2.2% | 7.2% | 0.0% | 917K | 3.5% | 60.1 | 6.9% |
| 2002 | $469M | $534 | $1,417 | −6.7% | 4.1% | 0.0% | 879K | 3.4% | 59.5 | 7.8% |
| 2001 | $477M | $588 | $1,619 | 16.3% | 3.6% | 0.0% | 812K | 3.4% | 58.8 | 9.0% |
| 2000 | $367M | $492 | $1,483 | 58.1% | 745K | 3.5% | 58.1 | 10.6% | ||
| 1999 | $225M | $270 | $819 | −35.5% | 835K | 3.6% | 45.2 | |||
| 1998 | $326M | $346 | $1,108 | −2.0% | 943K | 3.5% | 48.6 | |||
| 1997 | $320M | $349 | $1,149 | 4.0% | 917K | 3.4% | 49.0 | |||
| 1996 | $307M | $344 | $1,116 | 8.0% | 892K | 3.4% | 48.3 | |||
| 1995 | $263M | $303 | $1,043 | 6.7% | 868K | 3.3% | 47.5 | |||
| 1994 | $239M | $283 | $985 | 7.1% | 844K | 3.3% | 47.9 | |||
| 1993 | $217M | $264 | $925 | 10.2% | 821K | 3.3% | 47.0 | |||
| 1992 | $188M | $235 | $843 | 10.5% | 799K | 3.4% | 46.2 | |||
| 1991 | $148M | $190 | $766 | 10.7% | 778K | 3.5% | 45.1 | |||
| 1990 | $128M | $169 | $685 | 760K | 45.2 | |||||
| 1989 | 745K | 44.8 | ||||||||
| 1988 | 731K | 36.0 | ||||||||
| 1987 | 718K | 36.0 | ||||||||
| 1986 | 707K | 34.8 | ||||||||
| 1985 | 697K | 34.3 | ||||||||
| 1984 | 687K | 34.5 | ||||||||
| 1983 | 678K | 32.7 | ||||||||
| 1982 | 669K | 32.2 | ||||||||
| 1981 | 660K | 31.2 | ||||||||
| 1980 | 650K | 30.2 | ||||||||
| 1979 | 639K | 24.2 | ||||||||
| 1978 | 629K | 22.9 | ||||||||
| 1977 | 618K | 24.9 | ||||||||
| 1976 | 608K | 25.9 | ||||||||
| 1975 | 598K | 24.3 | ||||||||
| 1974 | 591K | 36.5 | ||||||||
| 1973 | 583K | 39.0 | ||||||||
| 1972 | 573K | 38.4 | ||||||||
| 1971 | 563K | 37.9 | ||||||||
| 1970 | 553K | 37.4 | ||||||||
| 1969 | 543K | 36.8 | ||||||||
| 1968 | 534K | 36.2 | ||||||||
| 1967 | 525K | 35.7 | ||||||||
| 1966 | 516K | 35.2 | ||||||||
| 1965 | 507K | 34.7 | ||||||||
| 1964 | 499K | 34.1 | ||||||||
| 1963 | 491K | 33.7 | ||||||||
| 1962 | 483K | 33.2 | ||||||||
| 1961 | 475K | 32.8 | ||||||||
| 1960 | 468K | 32.4 |
e: IMF estimate; f: IMF forecast. Inflation: IMF data for 2001–2002, 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.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)