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Chad · Economy

Chad economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Chad 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$21.5 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
5.6%
2025
GDP per person
US$1,022
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$3.5 billion
2024, as reported by trading partners
Remittances received
not published
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$4.3 million
2025, 0.0% of GDP

Chad economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Chad's GDP was US$21.5 billion in 2025, after real growth of 5.6%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

010bn20bn30bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$14.6 billionGDP 2016: US$13.0 billionGDP 2017: US$13.3 billionGDP 2018: US$15.3 billionGDP 2019: US$14.9 billionGDP 2020: US$14.9 billionGDP 2021: US$16.9 billionGDP 2022: US$17.8 billionGDP 2023: US$18.4 billionGDP 2024: US$19.9 billionGDP 2025: US$21.5 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-5%-3%0%3%5%8%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 3.3%Real GDP growth 2016: -4.1%Real GDP growth 2017: -1.6%Real GDP growth 2018: 5.7%Real GDP growth 2019: 5.4%Real GDP growth 2020: -0.4%Real GDP growth 2021: 0.3%Real GDP growth 2022: 4.1%Real GDP growth 2023: 4.0%Real GDP growth 2024: 5.0%Real GDP growth 2025: 5.6%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

05001k2k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$994GDP per person 2016: US$862GDP per person 2017: US$854GDP per person 2018: US$949GDP per person 2019: US$893GDP per person 2020: US$867GDP per person 2021: US$946GDP per person 2022: US$966GDP per person 2023: US$950GDP per person 2024: US$981GDP per person 2025: US$1,022

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Chad and in what

Direct investment by investing country

China was the largest investing country in Chad, at 62% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

Inward direct investment positions in Chad 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 Chad itself. The figures are derived by the IMF from what the investing countries report, so they are shown as reported by investing countries.

ChinaUS$654 million61.9%
NetherlandsUS$150 million14.2%
MoroccoUS$107 million10.2%
FranceUS$50 million4.7%
NigeriaUS$48 million4.6%
United StatesUS$30 million2.8%
LuxembourgUS$18 million1.7%
MauritiusUS$6.0 million0.6%
PolandUS$975 thousand0.1%
SerbiaUS$168 thousand0.0%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Chad sells and buys

Chad has not reported recent trade data to UN Comtrade. These figures are what 98 trading partners report about trade with Chad, shown as reported by trading partners. Partners' imports from Chad stand in for its exports and partners' exports to Chad for its imports. They are not Chad's own figures.

Mineral fuels and oils was 91% of exports in 2024.

Chad sold the most to Germany, 29% of exports in 2024.

Exports by product, 2024

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$3.2 billion, 91.3%Mineral fuels and oils91%Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits: US$207 million, 5.9%Lac: US$52 million, 1.5%Cotton: US$36 million, 1.0%Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof: US$1.9 million, 0.1%Vehicles: US$1.5 million, 0.0%Raw hides and skins (other than furskins) and leather: US$1.0 million, 0.0%Apparel and clothing accessories: US$542 thousand, 0.0%Natural, cultured pearls: US$473 thousand, 0.0%Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances: US$465 thousand, 0.0%Copper and articles thereof: US$395 thousand, 0.0%Commodities not specified according to kind: US$375 thousand, 0.0%All other chapters: US$2.0 million, 0.1%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Top buyers, 2024

Share of Chad's exports.

GermanyUS$997 million28.6%
ChinaUS$755 million21.7%
FranceUS$666 million19.1%
NetherlandsUS$489 million14.0%
TurkeyUS$182 million5.2%
MalaysiaUS$144 million4.1%
United StatesUS$83 million2.4%
IndiaUS$44 million1.3%
EgyptUS$4.9 million0.1%
NigerUS$3.2 million0.1%

Top suppliers, 2024

Share of Chad's imports.

ChinaUS$374 million30.4%
TurkeyUS$114 million9.3%
FranceUS$114 million9.3%
NigerUS$91 million7.4%
IndiaUS$82 million6.7%
United StatesUS$60 million4.9%
BelgiumUS$45 million3.6%
NetherlandsUS$43 million3.5%
SerbiaUS$36 million2.9%
BeninUS$35 million2.9%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

What Chad buys, 2024

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$197 million16.0%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$121 million9.9%
Pharmaceutical productsUS$117 million9.5%
VehiclesUS$92 million7.5%
Mineral fuels and oilsUS$90 million7.3%
Preparations of cerealsUS$60 million4.9%
PlasticsUS$50 million4.1%
Miscellaneous edible preparationsUS$42 million3.4%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. 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.

01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn4.0bn20172018201920202021202220232024Trade balance 2017: US$771 million (exports US$1.4 billion, imports US$603 million)Trade balance 2018: US$806 million (exports US$1.7 billion, imports US$901 million)Trade balance 2019: US$212 million (exports US$1.3 billion, imports US$1.1 billion)Trade balance 2020: US$542 million (exports US$1.7 billion, imports US$1.2 billion)Trade balance 2021: US$1.7 billion (exports US$3.0 billion, imports US$1.3 billion)Trade balance 2022: US$3.5 billion (exports US$4.8 billion, imports US$1.3 billion)Trade balance 2023: US$2.8 billion (exports US$4.5 billion, imports US$1.7 billion)Trade balance 2024: US$2.3 billion (exports US$3.5 billion, imports US$1.2 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Chad

Foreign direct investment net inflows were negative in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022: more investment left Chad than came in.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
-2.0bn-1.0bn01.0bn201520172019202120232025Foreign direct investment 2015: US$560 millionForeign direct investment 2016: US$317 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$426 millionForeign direct investment 2018: -US$753 millionForeign direct investment 2019: -US$360 millionForeign direct investment 2020: US$176 millionForeign direct investment 2021: -US$11 millionForeign direct investment 2022: -US$1.6 billionForeign direct investment 2023: US$442 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$2.8 millionForeign direct investment 2025: US$4.3 million

No remittances figures for Chad are not published by the World Bank, so none are shown.

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
-10%-5%0%5%201520172019202120232025Foreign direct investment 2015: 3.8%Foreign direct investment 2016: 2.4%Foreign direct investment 2017: 3.2%Foreign direct investment 2018: -4.9%Foreign direct investment 2019: -2.4%Foreign direct investment 2020: 1.2%Foreign direct investment 2021: -0.1%Foreign direct investment 2022: -9.0%Foreign direct investment 2023: 2.4%Foreign direct investment 2024: 0.0%Foreign direct investment 2025: 0.0%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Chad 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.

Bilateral creditors held 44% of Chad's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$208 million in 2024, 6% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralCommercial banksRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn4.0bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$550 millionBilateral 2015: US$660 millionRest of the total 2015: US$1.6 billionMultilateral 2016: US$564 millionBilateral 2016: US$712 millionRest of the total 2016: US$1.6 billionMultilateral 2017: US$691 millionBilateral 2017: US$884 millionRest of the total 2017: US$1.6 billionMultilateral 2018: US$664 millionBilateral 2018: US$887 millionRest of the total 2018: US$1.6 billionMultilateral 2019: US$658 millionBilateral 2019: US$902 millionRest of the total 2019: US$1.7 billionMultilateral 2020: US$716 millionBilateral 2020: US$990 millionRest of the total 2020: US$1.8 billionMultilateral 2021: US$759 millionBilateral 2021: US$954 millionRest of the total 2021: US$1.9 billionMultilateral 2022: US$717 millionBilateral 2022: US$899 millionRest of the total 2022: US$1.7 billionMultilateral 2023: US$823 millionBilateral 2023: US$1.0 billionRest of the total 2023: US$1.4 billionMultilateral 2024: US$760 millionBilateral 2024: US$1.5 billionRest of the total 2024: US$1.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$237 millionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$247 millionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$253 millionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$241 millionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$235 millionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$311 millionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$316 millionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$276 millionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$228 millionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$208 million

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
0500m1.0bn1.5bn2.0bn20152017201920212023Reserves 2015: US$369 millionReserves 2016: US$8.2 millionReserves 2017: US$8.6 millionReserves 2018: US$148 millionReserves 2019: US$310 millionReserves 2020: US$391 millionReserves 2021: US$212 millionReserves 2022: US$1.0 billionReserves 2023: US$1.0 billionReserves 2024: US$1.5 billion

No months-of-imports figures for Chad are not published by the World Bank, so none are shown.

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Chad

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

0500m1.0bn1.5bn20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$606 millionAid received 2016: US$624 millionAid received 2017: US$649 millionAid received 2018: US$875 millionAid received 2019: US$643 millionAid received 2020: US$1.0 billionAid received 2021: US$732 millionAid received 2022: US$702 millionAid received 2023: US$1.1 billion

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method