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Cameroon · Economy

Cameroon economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Cameroon economy is and how fast it is growing, who invests in it, what it sells and buys, how much its citizens abroad send home, who it owes and what it holds in reserve. The latest published year is shown with each figure.

GDP
US$58.9 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
3.2%
2025
GDP per person
US$1,972
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$5.0 billion
2023
Remittances received
US$690 million
2024, 1.3% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$599 million
2025, 1.0% of GDP

Cameroon economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Cameroon's GDP was US$58.9 billion in 2025, after real growth of 3.2%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

020bn40bn60bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$32.2 billionGDP 2016: US$33.8 billionGDP 2017: US$36.1 billionGDP 2018: US$40.0 billionGDP 2019: US$39.7 billionGDP 2020: US$40.8 billionGDP 2021: US$45.0 billionGDP 2022: US$44.3 billionGDP 2023: US$48.8 billionGDP 2024: US$53.3 billionGDP 2025: US$58.9 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

0%2%4%6%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 5.7%Real GDP growth 2016: 4.5%Real GDP growth 2017: 3.5%Real GDP growth 2018: 4.0%Real GDP growth 2019: 3.5%Real GDP growth 2020: 0.3%Real GDP growth 2021: 3.3%Real GDP growth 2022: 3.7%Real GDP growth 2023: 3.3%Real GDP growth 2024: 3.5%Real GDP growth 2025: 3.2%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

05001k2k2k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$1,415GDP per person 2016: US$1,442GDP per person 2017: US$1,496GDP per person 2018: US$1,611GDP per person 2019: US$1,555GDP per person 2020: US$1,556GDP per person 2021: US$1,672GDP per person 2022: US$1,605GDP per person 2023: US$1,720GDP per person 2024: US$1,830GDP per person 2025: US$1,972

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Cameroon and in what

Direct investment by investing country

France was the largest investing country in Cameroon, at 41% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

Inward direct investment positions in Cameroon at the end of 2024: the stock of foreign direct investment, not a year's new flow. The 10 largest investing countries.

The IMF data holds no positions reported by Cameroon itself. The figures are derived by the IMF from what the investing countries report, so they are shown as reported by investing countries.

FranceUS$1.7 billion40.6%
ChinaUS$397 million9.6%
MoroccoUS$284 million6.9%
MauritiusUS$265 million6.4%
SwitzerlandUS$258 million6.2%
PortugalUS$212 million5.1%
South KoreaUS$196 million4.7%
NetherlandsUS$165 million4.0%
South AfricaUS$163 million3.9%
NigeriaUS$140 million3.4%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Cameroon sells and buys

Mineral fuels and oils was 54% of exports in 2023.

Cameroon sold the most to Netherlands, 23% of exports in 2023.

Exports by product, 2023

Tile area follows value. Each tile is a customs chapter of the Harmonized System; hover for the full name.

Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation: US$2.7 billion, 54.1%Mineral fuels and oils54%Cocoa and cocoa preparations: US$865 million, 17.4%Cocoa and cocoa products17%Wood and articles of wood: US$479 million, 9.6%Wood and wood art…10%Cotton: US$246 million, 4.9%Cotton5%Aluminium and articles thereof: US$103 million, 2.1%Soap, organic surface-active agents: US$93 million, 1.9%Miscellaneous edible preparations: US$54 million, 1.1%Fruit and nuts, edible: US$53 million, 1.1%Rubber and articles thereof: US$52 million, 1.0%Coffee, tea, mate and spices: US$34 million, 0.7%Iron and steel: US$28 million, 0.6%Iron or steel articles: US$27 million, 0.5%All other chapters: US$251 million, 5.0%All other c…5%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

Top buyers, 2023

Share of Cameroon's exports.

NetherlandsUS$1.2 billion23.2%
FranceUS$615 million12.4%
IndiaUS$476 million9.6%
ChinaUS$385 million7.8%
ChadUS$248 million5.0%
ItalyUS$220 million4.4%
BangladeshUS$211 million4.3%
IndonesiaUS$194 million3.9%
SpainUS$165 million3.3%
BelgiumUS$165 million3.3%

Top suppliers, 2023

Share of Cameroon's imports.

ChinaUS$1.6 billion19.0%
IndiaUS$960 million11.6%
FranceUS$632 million7.6%
United StatesUS$401 million4.8%
BelgiumUS$367 million4.4%
GermanyUS$255 million3.1%
United Arab EmiratesUS$211 million2.5%
NorwayUS$188 million2.3%
United KingdomUS$182 million2.2%
JapanUS$178 million2.2%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

What Cameroon buys, 2023

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Mineral fuels and oilsUS$2.0 billion24.2%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$702 million8.5%
CerealsUS$644 million7.8%
VehiclesUS$546 million6.6%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$388 million4.7%
Iron and steelUS$310 million3.7%
Fish and seafoodUS$304 million3.7%
Pharmaceutical productsUS$277 million3.3%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

Trade balance of goods

Exports minus imports. Red bars are years when imports were larger. A year is left out when either side is not published.

-4.0bn-3.0bn-2.0bn-1.0bn020152017201920212023Trade balance 2015: -US$2.0 billion (exports US$4.1 billion, imports US$6.0 billion)Trade balance 2016: -US$2.8 billion (exports US$2.1 billion, imports US$4.9 billion)Trade balance 2017: -US$1.9 billion (exports US$3.3 billion, imports US$5.2 billion)Trade balance 2018: -US$2.3 billion (exports US$3.8 billion, imports US$6.1 billion)Trade balance 2019: -US$2.5 billion (exports US$4.1 billion, imports US$6.6 billion)Trade balance 2020: -US$2.5 billion (exports US$3.2 billion, imports US$5.6 billion)Trade balance 2021: -US$2.7 billion (exports US$4.3 billion, imports US$7.0 billion)Trade balance 2022: -US$2.3 billion (exports US$5.6 billion, imports US$7.9 billion)Trade balance 2023: -US$3.3 billion (exports US$5.0 billion, imports US$8.3 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Cameroon

Foreign direct investment in Cameroon was 1.3 times remittances in 2024.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
0500m1.0bn1.5bn201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: US$242 millionRemittances 2016: US$269 millionRemittances 2017: US$317 millionRemittances 2018: US$334 millionRemittances 2019: US$356 millionRemittances 2020: US$334 millionRemittances 2021: US$430 millionRemittances 2022: US$563 millionRemittances 2023: US$787 millionRemittances 2024: US$690 millionForeign direct investment 2015: US$694 millionForeign direct investment 2016: US$664 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$814 millionForeign direct investment 2018: US$765 millionForeign direct investment 2019: US$1.0 billionForeign direct investment 2020: US$675 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$964 millionForeign direct investment 2022: US$926 millionForeign direct investment 2023: US$822 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$888 millionForeign direct investment 2025: US$599 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Remittances and investment as a share of GDP

The same two flows measured against the size of the economy.

Remittances, share of GDPForeign direct investment, share of GDP
0%1%2%3%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: 0.8%Remittances 2016: 0.8%Remittances 2017: 0.9%Remittances 2018: 0.8%Remittances 2019: 0.9%Remittances 2020: 0.8%Remittances 2021: 1.0%Remittances 2022: 1.3%Remittances 2023: 1.6%Remittances 2024: 1.3%Foreign direct investment 2015: 2.2%Foreign direct investment 2016: 2.0%Foreign direct investment 2017: 2.3%Foreign direct investment 2018: 1.9%Foreign direct investment 2019: 2.6%Foreign direct investment 2020: 1.7%Foreign direct investment 2021: 2.1%Foreign direct investment 2022: 2.1%Foreign direct investment 2023: 1.7%Foreign direct investment 2024: 1.7%Foreign direct investment 2025: 1.0%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Cameroon owes

External debt stock by type of creditor. Creditor types cover public and publicly guaranteed debt; the grey part is the rest of the total external debt stock. A creditor type with no published figure is not shown.

Multilateral creditors held 38% of Cameroon's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$3.3 billion in 2024, 21% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralBondsCommercial banksRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
05.0bn10bn15bn20bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$1.6 billionBilateral 2015: US$3.1 billionBonds 2015: US$750 millionCommercial banks 2015: US$232 millionRest of the total 2015: US$1.6 billionMultilateral 2016: US$1.9 billionBilateral 2016: US$3.4 billionBonds 2016: US$750 millionCommercial banks 2016: US$213 millionRest of the total 2016: US$1.6 billionMultilateral 2017: US$2.4 billionBilateral 2017: US$4.4 billionBonds 2017: US$750 millionCommercial banks 2017: US$307 millionRest of the total 2017: US$2.1 billionMultilateral 2018: US$3.2 billionBilateral 2018: US$4.6 billionBonds 2018: US$750 millionCommercial banks 2018: US$499 millionRest of the total 2018: US$2.0 billionMultilateral 2019: US$3.7 billionBilateral 2019: US$5.2 billionBonds 2019: US$750 millionCommercial banks 2019: US$529 millionRest of the total 2019: US$2.7 billionMultilateral 2020: US$4.3 billionBilateral 2020: US$5.6 billionBonds 2020: US$750 millionCommercial banks 2020: US$521 millionRest of the total 2020: US$3.5 billionMultilateral 2021: US$4.7 billionBilateral 2021: US$5.6 billionBonds 2021: US$1.5 billionCommercial banks 2021: US$417 millionRest of the total 2021: US$3.1 billionMultilateral 2022: US$5.0 billionBilateral 2022: US$5.4 billionBonds 2022: US$891 millionCommercial banks 2022: US$422 millionRest of the total 2022: US$3.4 billionMultilateral 2023: US$5.6 billionBilateral 2023: US$5.1 billionBonds 2023: US$870 millionCommercial banks 2023: US$445 millionRest of the total 2023: US$3.4 billionMultilateral 2024: US$6.1 billionBilateral 2024: US$4.6 billionBonds 2024: US$777 millionCommercial banks 2024: US$923 millionRest of the total 2024: US$3.4 billionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$2.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$2.4 billionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$3.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$3.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$3.6 billionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$3.8 billionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$3.7 billionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$3.8 billionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$3.6 billionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$3.3 billion

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Reserves and months of import cover

Total reserves including gold, and how many months of imports they cover.

Reserves, US$Months of imports
02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn024620152017201920212023Reserves 2015: US$3.5 billionReserves 2016: US$2.2 billionReserves 2017: US$3.2 billionReserves 2018: US$3.5 billionReserves 2019: US$3.7 billionReserves 2020: US$4.0 billionReserves 2021: US$4.3 billionReserves 2022: US$5.1 billionReserves 2023: US$4.9 billionReserves 2024: US$5.1 billionMonths of imports 2015: 5.0 monthsMonths of imports 2016: 3.4 monthsMonths of imports 2017: 4.7 monthsMonths of imports 2018: 4.4 monthsMonths of imports 2019: 4.4 monthsMonths of imports 2020: 5.8 monthsMonths of imports 2021: 5.2 monthsMonths of imports 2022: 5.6 monthsMonths of imports 2023: 5.1 monthsMonths of imports 2024: 5.3 months

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Cameroon

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

0500m1.0bn1.5bn20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$664 millionAid received 2016: US$757 millionAid received 2017: US$1.2 billionAid received 2018: US$1.2 billionAid received 2019: US$1.3 billionAid received 2020: US$1.4 billionAid received 2021: US$1.1 billionAid received 2022: US$1.2 billionAid received 2023: US$940 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method