Eswatini economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances
How large the Eswatini 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.
Eswatini economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person
Eswatini's GDP was US$5.2 billion in 2025, after real growth of 4.2%.
GDP
Current US dollars.
Real GDP growth
Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.
GDP per person
Current US dollars.
Source: World Bank, 2025. Method
Who invests in Eswatini and in what
Direct investment by investing country
South Africa was the largest investing country in Eswatini, at 44% of inward direct investment positions in 2022.
Inward direct investment positions in Eswatini at the end of 2022: the stock of foreign direct investment, not a year's new flow. The 3 largest investing countries.
Source: IMF, 2022. Method
What Eswatini sells and buys
Essential oils and resinoids was 28% of exports in 2023.
Eswatini sold the most to South Africa, 68% 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.
Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method
Top buyers, 2023
Share of Eswatini's exports.
Top suppliers, 2023
Share of Eswatini's imports.
Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method
What Eswatini buys, 2023
The 8 largest product chapters in imports.
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.
Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method
Remittances against foreign direct investment in Eswatini
Foreign direct investment in Eswatini was 1.4 times remittances in 2025.
Foreign direct investment net inflows were negative in 2017: more investment left Eswatini than came in.
Source: World Bank, 2026. Method
Remittances and investment as a share of GDP
The same two flows measured against the size of the economy.
Source: World Bank, 2026. Method
Who Eswatini 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 46% of Eswatini's external debt stock in 2024.
Public external debt owed to China was US$213 million in 2024, 17% 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.
Source: World Bank, 2026. Method
Aid received by Eswatini
Net official development assistance and official aid received.
Source: World Bank, 2026. Method
More on Eswatini
World Bank data pages for Eswatini: 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.