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Equatorial Guinea · Economy

Equatorial Guinea economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Equatorial Guinea 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$12.8 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
-5.8%
2025
GDP per person
US$6,615
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$4.6 billion
2024, as reported by trading partners
Remittances received
not published
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$294 million
2025, 2.3% of GDP

Equatorial Guinea economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Equatorial Guinea's GDP was US$12.8 billion in 2025, after real growth of -5.8%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

05.0bn10bn15bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$13.2 billionGDP 2016: US$11.2 billionGDP 2017: US$12.2 billionGDP 2018: US$13.1 billionGDP 2019: US$11.4 billionGDP 2020: US$9.9 billionGDP 2021: US$12.2 billionGDP 2022: US$13.7 billionGDP 2023: US$12.5 billionGDP 2024: US$13.3 billionGDP 2025: US$12.8 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-10%-5%0%5%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: -9.1%Real GDP growth 2016: -8.8%Real GDP growth 2017: -5.7%Real GDP growth 2018: -6.2%Real GDP growth 2019: -5.5%Real GDP growth 2020: -4.8%Real GDP growth 2021: 0.9%Real GDP growth 2022: 3.2%Real GDP growth 2023: -7.4%Real GDP growth 2024: 0.4%Real GDP growth 2025: -5.8%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

03k5k8k10k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$9,069GDP per person 2016: US$7,453GDP per person 2017: US$7,809GDP per person 2018: US$8,102GDP per person 2019: US$6,804GDP per person 2020: US$5,764GDP per person 2021: US$6,946GDP per person 2022: US$7,589GDP per person 2023: US$6,788GDP per person 2024: US$7,004GDP per person 2025: US$6,615

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Equatorial Guinea and in what

Direct investment by investing country

China was the largest investing country in Equatorial Guinea, at 33% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

Inward direct investment positions in Equatorial Guinea at the end of 2024: the stock of foreign direct investment, not a year's new flow. The 9 largest investing countries.

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

ChinaUS$172 million32.7%
South KoreaUS$130 million24.7%
PortugalUS$75 million14.4%
SpainUS$46 million8.7%
ItalyUS$44 million8.4%
FranceUS$35 million6.7%
NetherlandsUS$16 million3.0%
MauritiusUS$8.0 million1.5%
United KingdomUS$1.3 million0.2%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Equatorial Guinea sells and buys

Equatorial Guinea has not reported recent trade data to UN Comtrade. These figures are what 71 trading partners report about trade with Equatorial Guinea, shown as reported by trading partners. Partners' imports from Equatorial Guinea stand in for its exports and partners' exports to Equatorial Guinea for its imports. They are not Equatorial Guinea's own figures.

Mineral fuels and oils was 90% of exports in 2024.

Equatorial Guinea sold the most to China, 21% 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$4.2 billion, 90.4%Mineral fuels and oils90%Organic chemicals: US$231 million, 5.0%Ships, boats and floating structures: US$113 million, 2.4%Wood and articles of wood: US$58 million, 1.3%Iron and steel: US$16 million, 0.3%Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof: US$7.6 million, 0.2%Commodities not specified according to kind: US$4.8 million, 0.1%Aluminium and articles thereof: US$3.9 million, 0.1%Copper and articles thereof: US$2.1 million, 0.0%Cocoa and cocoa preparations: US$2.1 million, 0.0%Salt: US$1.5 million, 0.0%Machinery and mechanical appliances, boilers, nuclear reactors: US$1.2 million, 0.0%All other chapters: US$4.8 million, 0.1%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Top buyers, 2024

Share of Equatorial Guinea's exports.

ChinaUS$986 million21.4%
SpainUS$692 million15.0%
IndiaUS$584 million12.7%
ItalyUS$307 million6.7%
JapanUS$199 million4.3%
ThailandUS$191 million4.1%
South KoreaUS$189 million4.1%
IndonesiaUS$172 million3.7%
GermanyUS$144 million3.1%
FranceUS$143 million3.1%

Top suppliers, 2024

Share of Equatorial Guinea's imports.

ChinaUS$170 million16.2%
SpainUS$159 million15.1%
United StatesUS$95 million9.1%
AngolaUS$92 million8.8%
United KingdomUS$60 million5.7%
NigeriaUS$52 million4.9%
TurkeyUS$38 million3.6%
NetherlandsUS$31 million2.9%
BrazilUS$30 million2.9%
IndiaUS$27 million2.6%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

What Equatorial Guinea buys, 2024

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$152 million14.5%
Ships and boatsUS$144 million13.7%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$80 million7.6%
BeveragesUS$72 million6.9%
Meat and edible meat offalUS$57 million5.4%
Iron or steel articlesUS$51 million4.9%
PlasticsUS$36 million3.4%
VehiclesUS$35 million3.3%

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.

02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn8.0bn20152017201920212023Trade balance 2015: US$3.9 billion (exports US$6.8 billion, imports US$2.9 billion)Trade balance 2016: US$3.2 billion (exports US$4.6 billion, imports US$1.5 billion)Trade balance 2017: US$4.5 billion (exports US$5.3 billion, imports US$879 million)Trade balance 2018: US$5.5 billion (exports US$6.6 billion, imports US$1.1 billion)Trade balance 2019: US$4.1 billion (exports US$5.1 billion, imports US$1.1 billion)Trade balance 2020: US$1.9 billion (exports US$3.1 billion, imports US$1.3 billion)Trade balance 2021: US$4.2 billion (exports US$5.3 billion, imports US$1.0 billion)Trade balance 2022: US$7.0 billion (exports US$8.1 billion, imports US$1.1 billion)Trade balance 2023: US$4.2 billion (exports US$5.2 billion, imports US$1.0 billion)Trade balance 2024: US$3.6 billion (exports US$4.6 billion, imports US$1.1 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Equatorial Guinea

Foreign direct investment net inflows were negative in 2018, 2020 and 2023: more investment left Equatorial Guinea than came in.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
-500m0500m1.0bn1.5bn2.0bn201520172019202120232025Foreign direct investment 2015: US$1.2 billionForeign direct investment 2016: US$1.8 billionForeign direct investment 2017: US$385 millionForeign direct investment 2018: -US$144 millionForeign direct investment 2019: US$821 millionForeign direct investment 2020: -US$9.1 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$562 millionForeign direct investment 2022: US$1.4 billionForeign direct investment 2023: -US$182 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$188 millionForeign direct investment 2025: US$294 million

No remittances figures for Equatorial Guinea 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
-5%0%5%10%15%20%201520172019202120232025Foreign direct investment 2015: 9.0%Foreign direct investment 2016: 15.6%Foreign direct investment 2017: 3.2%Foreign direct investment 2018: -1.1%Foreign direct investment 2019: 7.2%Foreign direct investment 2020: -0.1%Foreign direct investment 2021: 4.6%Foreign direct investment 2022: 10.1%Foreign direct investment 2023: -1.5%Foreign direct investment 2024: 1.4%Foreign direct investment 2025: 2.3%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Equatorial Guinea 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.

Public external debt owed to China was US$829 million in 2024.

MultilateralBilateralRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
0500m1.0bn1.5bn201920202021202220232024Multilateral 2019: US$75 millionBilateral 2019: US$1.3 billionMultilateral 2020: US$76 millionBilateral 2020: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2021: US$72 millionBilateral 2021: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2022: US$67 millionBilateral 2022: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2023: US$68 millionBilateral 2023: US$950 millionMultilateral 2024: US$66 millionBilateral 2024: US$829 millionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$1.3 billionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$1.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$1.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$1.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$946 millionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$829 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$1.2 billionReserves 2016: US$62 millionReserves 2017: US$46 millionReserves 2018: US$49 millionReserves 2019: US$41 millionReserves 2020: US$61 millionReserves 2021: US$44 millionReserves 2022: US$1.5 billionReserves 2023: US$1.5 billionReserves 2024: US$1.1 billion

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

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Equatorial Guinea

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

020m40m60m80m20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$7.5 millionAid received 2016: US$6.9 millionAid received 2017: US$6.9 millionAid received 2018: US$6.7 millionAid received 2019: US$63 millionAid received 2020: US$7.4 millionAid received 2021: US$14 millionAid received 2022: US$12 millionAid received 2023: US$12 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method