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Trade & investment · World Bank region

Trade & investment in Sub-Saharan Africa: how the countries rank

How open economies are: exports, imports, investment, remittances and tourism. 13 indicators for the 48 economies of Sub-Saharan Africa, ranked within the group; the group figure is the World Bank aggregate.

Exports27.9%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2025 · world 29.5%Imports27.9%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2025 · world 28.5%Trade openness55.7%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2024 · world 68.5%Current account-4.1%median countryMerchandise exports$487bnSub-Saharan Africa, 2025 · world $26.4tnHigh-tech exports6.0%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2024 · world 24.7%Fuel exports40.9%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2025 · world 9.5%Food exports14.6%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2025 · world 9.0%
Exports
Sub-Saharan AfricaWorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
0%20%40%60%1995200020052010201520202025Sub-Saharan Africa27.9%WorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
Imports
Sub-Saharan AfricaWorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
0%20%40%60%1995200020052010201520202025Sub-Saharan Africa27.9%WorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
countries

All 48 economies, trade & investment

Latest value and rank within the group (small figure). Click a column to sort; the country name opens its trade & investment profile.

48 shown
CountryExportsImportsTrade opennessCurrent accountMerchandise exportsHigh-tech exportsFuel exportsFood exports
Seychelles79.6%#1 · 202592.7%#3 · 2025172.3%#1 · 2025-5.7%#28 · 2025$550m#41 · 20250.1%#38 · 20240.0%#38 · 202485.9%#6 · 2024
Mauritius65.0%#2 · 202574.9%#4 · 2025139.9%#3 · 2025-7.0%#30 · 2024$2.3bn#31 · 20251.2%#29 · 20240.0%#35 · 202552.3%#9 · 2025
Gabon55.5%#3 · 202529.4%#25 · 202584.9%#13 · 2025—$11.6bn#10 · 20251.8%#23 · 202354.0%#7 · 20230.9%#36 · 2023
Eswatini53.8%#4 · 202453.7%#9 · 2024107.5%#6 · 20242.4%#8 · 2025$2.4bn#30 · 20250.3%#35 · 20233.6%#12 · 202329.7%#17 · 2023
Lesotho49.5%#5 · 2025104.5%#1 · 2025154.0%#2 · 20250.1%#11 · 2025$773m#39 · 20250.1%#39 · 20240.0%#31 · 202423.3%#22 · 2024
Republic of the Congo48.0%#6 · 202543.6%#13 · 202591.7%#11 · 202511.6%#1 · 2021$7.5bn#18 · 20253.2%#14 · 202385.9%#4 · 20230.2%#39 · 2023
Equatorial Guinea46.5%#7 · 202528.4%#28 · 202574.9%#14 · 2025—$2.6bn#27 · 2025———
Namibia44.7%#8 · 202563.9%#5 · 2025108.6%#5 · 2025-13.4%#37 · 2024$7.0bn#19 · 20250.1%#37 · 20241.3%#24 · 202428.0%#18 · 2024
Democratic Republic of the Congo43.4%#9 · 202543.9%#12 · 202587.3%#12 · 2025-4.3%#23 · 2025$32.1bn#4 · 20250.2%#36 · 20231.8%#20 · 20241.3%#35 · 2024
Cabo Verde42.0%#10 · 202553.4%#10 · 202595.3%#9 · 20253.6%#5 · 2025$96.0m#46 · 20251.2%#30 · 20230.0%#37 · 202386.4%#5 · 2024
Guinea41.4%#11 · 202562.3%#6 · 2025103.7%#7 · 2025-1.6%#14 · 2024$15.1bn#7 · 2025———
Mozambique41.4%#12 · 202555.7%#7 · 202597.1%#8 · 2025-14.2%#41 · 2025$8.1bn#16 · 20253.6%#12 · 202454.2%#5 · 202512.4%#28 · 2025
Mauritania39.9%#13 · 202554.2%#8 · 202594.0%#10 · 2025-9.6%#35 · 2024$4.5bn#23 · 20259.4%#4 · 20240.5%#26 · 202425.5%#20 · 2024
Ghana35.1%#14 · 202433.9%#18 · 202469.0%#17 · 20248.2%#2 · 2025$31.1bn#5 · 20251.6%#26 · 20238.8%#9 · 202519.7%#26 · 2025
Burkina Faso35.0%#15 · 202530.0%#23 · 202565.0%#18 · 2025-4.0%#21 · 2024$11.1bn#11 · 20251.6%#25 · 20240.0%#30 · 20247.1%#30 · 2024
Zambia35.0%#16 · 202427.6%#30 · 202462.5%#19 · 2024-5.5%#27 · 2025$13.3bn#8 · 20251.5%#27 · 20242.7%#14 · 20248.7%#29 · 2024
Senegal32.5%#17 · 202538.6%#14 · 202571.1%#15 · 2025-19.8%#42 · 2023$10.2bn#12 · 20253.0%#17 · 202432.7%#8 · 202421.6%#25 · 2024
Botswana32.0%#18 · 202537.5%#15 · 202569.5%#16 · 20252.9%#6 · 2025$5.1bn#20 · 20250.5%#34 · 20230.7%#25 · 20231.9%#34 · 2023
South Africa31.4%#19 · 202529.5%#24 · 202560.9%#21 · 2025-0.4%#13 · 2025$116bn#1 · 20255.7%#7 · 20248.2%#11 · 202512.8%#27 · 2025
Côte d'Ivoire29.8%#20 · 202524.8%#33 · 202554.6%#24 · 2025-4.5%#24 · 2024$28.5bn#6 · 20255.3%#9 · 20248.8%#10 · 202555.0%#8 · 2025
Chad29.4%#21 · 202516.7%#41 · 202546.1%#31 · 2025—$4.0bn#24 · 2025———
Somalia29.2%#22 · 202598.8%#2 · 2025128.1%#4 · 2025—$1.3bn#36 · 2025———
Togo24.6%#23 · 202335.3%#16 · 202359.9%#22 · 2023-0.3%#12 · 2020$1.8bn#34 · 20250.7%#32 · 20241.8%#19 · 202534.4%#14 · 2025
Angola23.0%#24 · 202511.7%#42 · 202534.6%#39 · 20250.3%#10 · 2025$32.5bn#3 · 202516.7%#3 · 202491.5%#1 · 20250.5%#37 · 2025
Mali22.1%#25 · 202526.7%#32 · 202548.8%#29 · 2025-4.3%#22 · 2024$4.9bn#22 · 20255.4%#8 · 20231.6%#22 · 20236.2%#32 · 2023
Rwanda21.6%#26 · 202535.1%#17 · 202556.7%#23 · 2025-12.0%#36 · 2024$2.5bn#29 · 20254.8%#10 · 20220.1%#27 · 202227.2%#19 · 2022
Uganda21.4%#27 · 202528.8%#26 · 202550.2%#27 · 2025-5.2%#25 · 2025$12.5bn#9 · 20251.9%#22 · 20242.3%#16 · 202439.3%#13 · 2024
Madagascar21.3%#28 · 202532.9%#21 · 202554.2%#25 · 2025-5.2%#26 · 2025$2.5bn#28 · 20251.0%#31 · 20242.6%#15 · 202430.5%#16 · 2024
Sierra Leone20.9%#29 · 202528.2%#29 · 202549.1%#28 · 2025-14.1%#40 · 2024$1.5bn#35 · 2025———
Central African Republic19.3%#30 · 202533.6%#19 · 202552.9%#26 · 2025—$255m#45 · 20258.3%#6 · 20240.0%#29 · 20240.2%#38 · 2024
Tanzania19.0%#31 · 202520.0%#39 · 202539.0%#36 · 2025-3.0%#19 · 2024$10.0bn#13 · 20253.0%#18 · 20241.3%#23 · 202531.0%#15 · 2025
Zimbabwe18.1%#32 · 202423.4%#34 · 202441.5%#32 · 20241.2%#9 · 2024$9.7bn#14 · 20252.8%#19 · 20242.9%#13 · 202421.6%#24 · 2024
Benin17.1%#33 · 202520.1%#38 · 202537.1%#38 · 2025-8.2%#32 · 2023$4.0bn#25 · 202530.5%#1 · 20240.0%#36 · 202439.7%#12 · 2024
Kenya15.8%#34 · 202521.8%#35 · 202537.5%#37 · 2025-2.1%#16 · 2025$8.6bn#15 · 20253.2%#15 · 20241.8%#21 · 202550.8%#10 · 2025
Niger15.8%#35 · 202518.1%#40 · 202533.9%#40 · 2025-6.1%#29 · 2024$1.9bn#33 · 20258.6%#5 · 202488.0%#2 · 20244.1%#33 · 2024
Guinea-Bissau13.9%#36 · 202527.0%#31 · 202540.9%#34 · 2025-7.4%#31 · 2024$313m#44 · 2025———
Ethiopia13.3%#37 · 202520.2%#37 · 202533.5%#41 · 2025-2.5%#17 · 2024$7.6bn#17 · 20253.8%#11 · 20230.0%#28 · 202380.4%#7 · 2023
São Tomé and Príncipe13.3%#38 · 202533.3%#20 · 202546.6%#30 · 2025-9.3%#34 · 2025$38.0m#48 · 202529.3%#2 · 20230.0%#33 · 202298.2%#1 · 2023
Cameroon13.1%#39 · 202520.3%#36 · 202533.4%#42 · 2025-3.3%#20 · 2024$5.1bn#21 · 20252.1%#21 · 202354.1%#6 · 202322.8%#23 · 2023
The Gambia12.7%#40 · 202549.4%#11 · 202562.2%#20 · 2025-2.9%#18 · 2025$514m#42 · 20253.3%#13 · 20240.0%#39 · 202490.7%#3 · 2024
Malawi10.6%#41 · 202528.8%#27 · 202539.4%#35 · 2025-14.0%#39 · 2025$947m#38 · 20251.6%#24 · 20240.0%#32 · 202593.3%#2 · 2025
Comoros9.3%#42 · 202531.6%#22 · 202540.9%#33 · 2025-1.7%#15 · 2023$48.0m#47 · 20253.1%#16 · 20230.0%#34 · 202388.5%#4 · 2023
Sudan1.1%#43 · 20251.3%#43 · 20252.4%#43 · 2025-8.5%#33 · 2025$2.8bn#26 · 2025———
Burundi———-13.7%#38 · 2025$332m#43 · 20251.3%#28 · 20231.9%#17 · 202346.0%#11 · 2023
Eritrea————$631m#40 · 2025———
Liberia———2.5%#7 · 2024$2.1bn#32 · 20250.6%#33 · 20231.8%#18 · 202324.5%#21 · 2023
Nigeria———4.8%#4 · 2025$55.5bn#2 · 20252.7%#20 · 202485.9%#3 · 20256.4%#31 · 2025
South Sudan———7.9%#3 · 2023$955m#37 · 2025———
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)Ranks count group members with a value in the recent window.
within the group

Highest and lowest, indicator by indicator

Exports43 countries
  1. 1Seychelles79.6%2025
  2. 2Mauritius65.0%2025
  3. 3Gabon55.5%2025
Lowest
  1. 43Sudan1.1%2025
  2. 42Comoros9.3%2025
  3. 41Malawi10.6%2025
Median country 29.2% · group 27.9%
Imports43 countries
  1. 1Lesotho104.5%2025
  2. 2Somalia98.8%2025
  3. 3Seychelles92.7%2025
Lowest
  1. 43Sudan1.3%2025
  2. 42Angola11.7%2025
  3. 41Chad16.7%2025
Median country 31.6% · group 27.9%
Trade openness43 countries
  1. 1Seychelles172.3%2025
  2. 2Lesotho154.0%2025
  3. 3Mauritius139.9%2025
Lowest
  1. 43Sudan2.4%2025
  2. 42Cameroon33.4%2025
  3. 41Ethiopia33.5%2025
Median country 59.9% · group 55.7%
Current account42 countries
  1. 1Republic of the Congo11.6%2021
  2. 2Ghana8.2%2025
  3. 3South Sudan7.9%2023
Lowest
  1. 42Senegal-19.8%2023
  2. 41Mozambique-14.2%2025
  3. 40Sierra Leone-14.1%2024
Median country -4.1%
Merchandise exports48 countries
  1. 1South Africa$116bn2025
  2. 2Nigeria$55.5bn2025
  3. 3Angola$32.5bn2025
Lowest
  1. 48São Tomé and Príncipe$38.0m2025
  2. 47Comoros$48.0m2025
  3. 46Cabo Verde$96.0m2025
Median country $4.0bn · group $487bn
High-tech exports39 countries
  1. 1Benin30.5%2024
  2. 2São Tomé and Príncipe29.3%2023
  3. 3Angola16.7%2024
Lowest
  1. 39Lesotho0.1%2024
  2. 38Seychelles0.1%2024
  3. 37Namibia0.1%2024
Median country 2.7% · group 6.0%
Fuel exports39 countries
  1. 1Angola91.5%2025
  2. 2Niger88.0%2024
  3. 3Nigeria85.9%2025
Lowest
  1. 39The Gambia0.0%2024
  2. 38Seychelles0.0%2024
  3. 37Cabo Verde0.0%2023
Median country 1.8% · group 40.9%
Food exports39 countries
  1. 1São Tomé and Príncipe98.2%2023
  2. 2Malawi93.3%2025
  3. 3The Gambia90.7%2024
Lowest
  1. 39Republic of the Congo0.2%2023
  2. 38Central African Republic0.2%2024
  3. 37Angola0.5%2025
Median country 25.5% · group 14.6%
Average tariff45 countries
  1. 1Equatorial Guinea18.2%2022
  2. 2Republic of the Congo18.2%2022
  3. 3Cameroon18.1%2022
Lowest
  1. 45Sudan0.0%2021
  2. 44Mauritius1.2%2022
  3. 43Seychelles1.3%2022
Median country 8.8%
FDI inflows46 countries
  1. 1Guinea27.4%2025
  2. 2Mozambique25.8%2025
  3. 3The Gambia10.6%2025
Lowest
  1. 46Botswana-3.3%2025
  2. 45South Africa-0.5%2025
  3. 44Sudan0.0%2025
Median country 2.0% · group 2.1%
Remittances41 countries
  1. 1The Gambia23.8%2025
  2. 2Liberia21.3%2024
  3. 3Comoros20.8%2023
Lowest
  1. 41Sudan0.0%2025
  2. 40Angola0.0%2025
  3. 39South Africa0.2%2025
Median country 3.1% · group 3.1%
Tourist arrivals42 countries
  1. 1Nigeria5.3m2016
  2. 2South Africa3.9m2020
  3. 3Kenya2.0m2019
Lowest
  1. 42Comoros7,0002020
  2. 41Chad10,4002020
  3. 40São Tomé and Príncipe33,4002018
Median country 341,150 · group 56.0m
Tourism receipts40 countries
  1. 1South Africa$2.7bn2020
  2. 2Tanzania$2.6bn2019
  3. 3Ethiopia$2.3bn2020
Lowest
  1. 40Guinea$1.3m2020
  2. 39Mauritania$6.4m2020
  3. 38Eswatini$7.3m2020
Median country $171m · group $34.9bn
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Other topics in Sub-Saharan Africa

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