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African economies
Democratic Republic of the Congo · Economy

Democratic Republic of the Congo economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Democratic Republic of the Congo 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$91.0 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
5.8%
2025
GDP per person
US$807
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$37.4 billion
2024
Remittances received
US$3.3 billion
2025, 3.6% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$1.9 billion
2025, 2.1% of GDP
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Democratic Republic of the Congo economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Democratic Republic of the Congo's GDP was US$91.0 billion in 2025, after real growth of 5.8%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

025bn50bn75bn100bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$40.2 billionGDP 2016: US$38.6 billionGDP 2017: US$37.5 billionGDP 2018: US$46.7 billionGDP 2019: US$46.8 billionGDP 2020: US$46.7 billionGDP 2021: US$59.1 billionGDP 2022: US$70.4 billionGDP 2023: US$69.8 billionGDP 2024: US$75.7 billionGDP 2025: US$91.0 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

0%3%5%8%10%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 6.4%Real GDP growth 2016: 0.4%Real GDP growth 2017: 4.2%Real GDP growth 2018: 6.1%Real GDP growth 2019: 0.6%Real GDP growth 2020: 0.8%Real GDP growth 2021: 6.4%Real GDP growth 2022: 9.3%Real GDP growth 2023: 8.5%Real GDP growth 2024: 6.1%Real GDP growth 2025: 5.8%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

02505007501k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$496GDP per person 2016: US$460GDP per person 2017: US$431GDP per person 2018: US$518GDP per person 2019: US$504GDP per person 2020: US$486GDP per person 2021: US$596GDP per person 2022: US$688GDP per person 2023: US$660GDP per person 2024: US$693GDP per person 2025: US$807

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Democratic Republic of the Congo and in what

Direct investment by investing country

China was the largest investing country in Democratic Republic of the Congo, at 53% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

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

ChinaUS$4.3 billion53.0%
NetherlandsUS$1.6 billion20.1%
South AfricaUS$978 million12.1%
BelgiumUS$376 million4.7%
CanadaUS$233 million2.9%
SwedenUS$156 million1.9%
LuxembourgUS$129 million1.6%
FranceUS$74 million0.9%
ItalyUS$64 million0.8%
NigeriaUS$61 million0.8%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Democratic Republic of the Congo sells and buys

Copper was 67% of exports in 2024.

Democratic Republic of the Congo sold the most to China, 59% 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.

Copper and articles thereof: US$25.1 billion, 67.2%Copper67%Inorganic chemicals: US$5.5 billion, 14.8%Inorganic chemicals15%Ores, slag and ash: US$3.4 billion, 9.1%Ores, slag and ash9%Natural, cultured pearls: US$1.9 billion, 5.0%Pearls, prec…5%Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation: US$675 million, 1.8%Mineral f…2%Cocoa and cocoa preparations: US$447 million, 1.2%Wood and articles of wood: US$69 million, 0.2%Vehicles: US$43 million, 0.1%Ships, boats and floating structures: US$33 million, 0.1%Coffee, tea, mate and spices: US$33 million, 0.1%Salt: US$27 million, 0.1%Machinery and mechanical appliances, boilers, nuclear reactors: US$15 million, 0.0%All other chapters: US$108 million, 0.3%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Top buyers, 2024

Share of Democratic Republic of the Congo's exports.

ChinaUS$22.0 billion58.9%
Hong KongUS$2.9 billion7.8%
South AfricaUS$2.9 billion7.8%
MozambiqueUS$1.7 billion4.5%
TanzaniaUS$1.7 billion4.5%
SingaporeUS$1.5 billion4.0%
United Arab EmiratesUS$1.4 billion3.7%
VietnamUS$749 million2.0%
SwitzerlandUS$725 million1.9%
ZambiaUS$420 million1.1%

Top suppliers, 2024

Share of Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports.

ChinaUS$4.2 billion30.9%
United Arab EmiratesUS$1.3 billion9.3%
South AfricaUS$1.1 billion8.2%
IndiaUS$795 million5.8%
United StatesUS$507 million3.7%
ZambiaUS$362 million2.7%
BahrainUS$359 million2.6%
BelgiumUS$315 million2.3%
TanzaniaUS$304 million2.2%
JapanUS$283 million2.1%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

What Democratic Republic of the Congo buys, 2024

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Mineral fuels and oilsUS$2.6 billion19.1%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$2.2 billion16.3%
VehiclesUS$1.2 billion8.5%
Salt, sulphur, earth and stoneUS$974 million7.2%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$966 million7.1%
Iron or steel articlesUS$633 million4.7%
Inorganic chemicalsUS$405 million3.0%
PlasticsUS$373 million2.7%

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.

010bn20bn30bn20152017201920212023Trade balance 2015: US$617 million (exports US$8.7 billion, imports US$8.1 billion)Trade balance 2016: US$1.7 billion (exports US$7.2 billion, imports US$5.5 billion)Trade balance 2017: US$6.5 billion (exports US$12.3 billion, imports US$5.8 billion)Trade balance 2018: US$12.1 billion (exports US$20.0 billion, imports US$7.9 billion)Trade balance 2019: US$4.6 billion (exports US$13.4 billion, imports US$8.8 billion)Trade balance 2020: US$7.3 billion (exports US$14.2 billion, imports US$6.9 billion)Trade balance 2021: US$14.2 billion (exports US$21.4 billion, imports US$7.2 billion)Trade balance 2022: US$4.3 billion (exports US$15.7 billion, imports US$11.4 billion)Trade balance 2023: US$2.2 billion (exports US$27.7 billion, imports US$25.5 billion)Trade balance 2024: US$23.8 billion (exports US$37.4 billion, imports US$13.6 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Remittances to Democratic Republic of the Congo were 1.8 times foreign direct investment in 2025.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn4.0bn201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: US$1.2 billionRemittances 2016: US$593 millionRemittances 2017: US$1.1 billionRemittances 2018: US$1.8 billionRemittances 2019: US$2.1 billionRemittances 2020: US$1.2 billionRemittances 2021: US$1.3 billionRemittances 2022: US$3.3 billionRemittances 2023: US$3.3 billionRemittances 2024: US$2.0 billionRemittances 2025: US$3.3 billionForeign direct investment 2015: US$1.2 billionForeign direct investment 2016: US$932 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$1.0 billionForeign direct investment 2018: US$1.4 billionForeign direct investment 2019: US$1.4 billionForeign direct investment 2020: US$1.5 billionForeign direct investment 2021: US$1.7 billionForeign direct investment 2022: US$1.4 billionForeign direct investment 2023: US$2.4 billionForeign direct investment 2024: US$2.9 billionForeign direct investment 2025: US$1.9 billion

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%2%4%6%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: 2.9%Remittances 2016: 1.5%Remittances 2017: 2.9%Remittances 2018: 3.9%Remittances 2019: 4.4%Remittances 2020: 2.6%Remittances 2021: 2.3%Remittances 2022: 4.6%Remittances 2023: 4.7%Remittances 2024: 2.6%Remittances 2025: 3.6%Foreign direct investment 2015: 2.9%Foreign direct investment 2016: 2.4%Foreign direct investment 2017: 2.8%Foreign direct investment 2018: 3.0%Foreign direct investment 2019: 2.9%Foreign direct investment 2020: 3.2%Foreign direct investment 2021: 2.8%Foreign direct investment 2022: 2.0%Foreign direct investment 2023: 3.4%Foreign direct investment 2024: 3.8%Foreign direct investment 2025: 2.1%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Democratic Republic of the Congo 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 33% of Democratic Republic of the Congo's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$3.5 billion in 2024, 28% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralCommercial banksRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
05.0bn10bn15bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$1.9 billionBilateral 2015: US$2.3 billionCommercial banks 2015: US$2.5 millionRest of the total 2015: US$1.3 billionMultilateral 2016: US$1.7 billionBilateral 2016: US$2.3 billionRest of the total 2016: US$1.2 billionMultilateral 2017: US$2.0 billionBilateral 2017: US$2.2 billionCommercial banks 2017: US$1.1 millionRest of the total 2017: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2018: US$2.0 billionBilateral 2018: US$3.5 billionCommercial banks 2018: US$12 millionRest of the total 2018: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2019: US$2.1 billionBilateral 2019: US$3.5 billionCommercial banks 2019: US$8.2 millionRest of the total 2019: US$1.6 billionMultilateral 2020: US$2.3 billionBilateral 2020: US$4.3 billionCommercial banks 2020: US$16 millionRest of the total 2020: US$1.9 billionMultilateral 2021: US$2.4 billionBilateral 2021: US$4.3 billionCommercial banks 2021: US$12 millionRest of the total 2021: US$3.7 billionMultilateral 2022: US$2.7 billionBilateral 2022: US$3.8 billionCommercial banks 2022: US$7.7 millionRest of the total 2022: US$4.2 billionMultilateral 2023: US$3.5 billionBilateral 2023: US$3.8 billionCommercial banks 2023: US$34 millionRest of the total 2023: US$4.6 billionMultilateral 2024: US$4.1 billionBilateral 2024: US$3.8 billionCommercial banks 2024: US$30 millionRest of the total 2024: US$4.6 billionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$1.9 billionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$1.9 billionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$1.9 billionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$3.2 billionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$3.2 billionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$3.9 billionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$4.0 billionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$3.5 billionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$3.5 billionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$3.5 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
02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn0112220152017201920212023Reserves 2015: US$1.2 billionReserves 2016: US$708 millionReserves 2017: US$695 millionReserves 2018: US$665 millionReserves 2019: US$1.2 billionReserves 2020: US$748 millionReserves 2021: US$3.5 billionReserves 2022: US$4.4 billionReserves 2023: US$5.1 billionMonths of imports 2015: 1.0 monthMonths of imports 2016: 0.6 monthsMonths of imports 2017: 0.6 monthsMonths of imports 2018: 0.4 monthsMonths of imports 2019: 0.8 monthsMonths of imports 2020: 0.6 monthsMonths of imports 2021: 1.7 monthsMonths of imports 2022: 1.5 monthsMonths of imports 2023: 1.7 months

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Democratic Republic of the Congo

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$2.6 billionAid received 2016: US$2.1 billionAid received 2017: US$2.3 billionAid received 2018: US$2.5 billionAid received 2019: US$2.8 billionAid received 2020: US$3.4 billionAid received 2021: US$3.6 billionAid received 2022: US$3.3 billionAid received 2023: US$4.3 billion

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Where Democratic Republic of the Congo ranks in Africa

Its place among the 54 African countries on each of our Africa rankings. Each tile opens the full ranking with its source.

All Africa rankings

More on Democratic Republic of the Congo

World Bank data pages for Democratic Republic of the Congo: GDP, GDP growth, GDP per person, remittances, foreign direct investment, reserves, months of imports, external debt, debt by creditor, aid. UN Comtrade: trade data. IMF: direct investment positions.

Cite this

PollsAfrica (2026). Democratic Republic of the Congo economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances. Retrieved 10 Oct 2026 from https://pollsafrica.com/economy/democratic-republic-of-the-congo