Eritrea economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances
How large the Eritrea 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.
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Eritrea economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person
No GDP figures for Eritrea are not published by the World Bank, so none are shown.
Source: World Bank, 2025. Method
Who invests in Eritrea and in what
Direct investment by investing country
China was the largest investing country in Eritrea, at 97% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.
Inward direct investment positions in Eritrea at the end of 2024: the stock of foreign direct investment, not a year's new flow. The 4 largest investing countries.
The IMF data holds no positions reported by Eritrea itself. The figures are derived by the IMF from what the investing countries report, so they are shown as reported by investing countries.
Source: IMF, 2024. Method
What Eritrea sells and buys
Eritrea has not reported recent trade data to UN Comtrade. These figures are what 74 trading partners report about trade with Eritrea, shown as reported by trading partners. Partners' imports from Eritrea stand in for its exports and partners' exports to Eritrea for its imports. They are not Eritrea's own figures.
Ores, slag and ash was 96% of exports in 2025.
Eritrea sold the most to China, 95% of exports in 2025.
Exports by product, 2025
Tile area follows value. Each tile is a customs chapter of the Harmonized System; hover for the full name.
Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method
Top buyers, 2025
Share of Eritrea's exports.
Top suppliers, 2024
Share of Eritrea's imports.
Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method
What Eritrea buys, 2024
The 8 largest product chapters in imports.
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.
Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method
Remittances against foreign direct investment in Eritrea
Foreign direct investment net inflows were negative in 2017: more investment left Eritrea than came in.
No remittances figures for Eritrea are not published by the World Bank, so none are shown.
Source: World Bank, 2026. Method
Who Eritrea 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 75% of Eritrea's external debt stock in 2024.
Public external debt owed to China was US$3.4 million in 2024, 0% of the external debt stock.
Source: World Bank, 2026. Method
Reserves and months of import cover
Total reserves including gold, and how many months of imports they cover.
No months-of-imports figures for Eritrea are not published by the World Bank, so none are shown.
Source: World Bank, 2026. Method
Aid received by Eritrea
Net official development assistance and official aid received.
Source: World Bank, 2026. Method
Where Eritrea 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.
- Area36th of 54121,630 sq kmLargest countries in Africa
- Life expectancy12th of 5468.9 years, 2024Life expectancy in Africa
- US travel advisory24th of 54Level 2, increased cautionSafest countries in Africa
- President's time in office4th longest of 51Isaias Afwerki, 33 yearsLongest serving presidents
- President's age10th oldest of 5180 years oldOldest presidents in Africa
More on Eritrea
- Eritrea government directory
- Inflation and unemployment in Eritrea
- Eritrea debt: debt to GDP and largest creditors
- Who invests in Africa: the largest foreign investors in every country
- Natural resources in Eritrea: oil, gas and minerals
- East Africa: Eritrea and its neighbours compared
- African economies compared: GDP, investment, trade and remittances
World Bank data pages for Eritrea: 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). Eritrea economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances. Retrieved 10 Oct 2026 from https://pollsafrica.com/economy/eritrea