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African economies
Gabon · Economy

Gabon economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Gabon 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$21.4 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
2.5%
2025
GDP per person
US$8,263
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$12.7 billion
2023
Remittances received
US$18 million
2015, 0.1% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$379 million
2025, 1.8% of GDP
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Gabon economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Gabon's GDP was US$21.4 billion in 2025, after real growth of 2.5%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

010bn20bn30bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$14.4 billionGDP 2016: US$14.0 billionGDP 2017: US$14.9 billionGDP 2018: US$16.9 billionGDP 2019: US$16.9 billionGDP 2020: US$15.3 billionGDP 2021: US$19.4 billionGDP 2022: US$20.4 billionGDP 2023: US$19.4 billionGDP 2024: US$20.9 billionGDP 2025: US$21.4 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-2%0%2%4%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 3.9%Real GDP growth 2016: 2.1%Real GDP growth 2017: 0.5%Real GDP growth 2018: 0.8%Real GDP growth 2019: 3.9%Real GDP growth 2020: -1.8%Real GDP growth 2021: 1.5%Real GDP growth 2022: 3.0%Real GDP growth 2023: 2.4%Real GDP growth 2024: 3.4%Real GDP growth 2025: 2.5%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

03k5k8k10k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$7,047GDP per person 2016: US$6,677GDP per person 2017: US$6,922GDP per person 2018: US$7,624GDP per person 2019: US$7,441GDP per person 2020: US$6,606GDP per person 2021: US$8,181GDP per person 2022: US$8,409GDP per person 2023: US$7,803GDP per person 2024: US$8,230GDP per person 2025: US$8,263

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Gabon and in what

Direct investment by investing country

Netherlands was the largest investing country in Gabon, at 36% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

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

NetherlandsUS$1.3 billion36.1%
FranceUS$965 million27.3%
IndiaUS$366 million10.4%
MauritiusUS$351 million9.9%
MoroccoUS$200 million5.7%
ChinaUS$133 million3.8%
ItalyUS$107 million3.0%
South AfricaUS$95 million2.7%
TurkeyUS$63 million1.8%
NigeriaUS$43 million1.2%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Gabon sells and buys

Mineral fuels and oils was 54% of exports in 2023.

Gabon sold the most to China, 28% 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.

Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation: US$6.9 billion, 54.0%Mineral fuels and oils54%Ores, slag and ash: US$3.0 billion, 23.3%Ores, slag and ash23%Ships, boats and floating structures: US$1.6 billion, 12.8%Ships and boats13%Wood and articles of wood: US$837 million, 6.6%Wood and wood…7%Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products: US$105 million, 0.8%Machinery and mechanical appliances, boilers, nuclear reactors: US$71 million, 0.6%Iron or steel articles: US$47 million, 0.4%Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof: US$39 million, 0.3%Iron and steel: US$39 million, 0.3%Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof: US$21 million, 0.2%Rubber and articles thereof: US$21 million, 0.2%Natural, cultured pearls: US$14 million, 0.1%All other chapters: US$71 million, 0.6%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

Top buyers, 2023

Share of Gabon's exports.

ChinaUS$3.5 billion27.7%
FranceUS$1.3 billion10.6%
SpainUS$755 million5.9%
NetherlandsUS$724 million5.7%
IsraelUS$680 million5.4%
MalaysiaUS$631 million5.0%
ItalyUS$594 million4.7%
IndiaUS$588 million4.6%
CongoUS$574 million4.5%
IndonesiaUS$573 million4.5%

Top suppliers, 2023

Share of Gabon's imports.

South KoreaUS$560 million13.3%
FranceUS$549 million13.0%
ChinaUS$490 million11.6%
United StatesUS$318 million7.5%
IndiaUS$164 million3.9%
GermanyUS$136 million3.2%
JapanUS$121 million2.9%
PanamaUS$121 million2.9%
United KingdomUS$111 million2.6%
SingaporeUS$110 million2.6%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

What Gabon buys, 2023

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Ships and boatsUS$982 million23.3%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$577 million13.7%
Mineral fuels and oilsUS$291 million6.9%
Iron or steel articlesUS$235 million5.6%
VehiclesUS$232 million5.5%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$220 million5.2%
Meat and edible meat offalUS$165 million3.9%
CerealsUS$133 million3.2%

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.

02.5bn5.0bn7.5bn10bn20152017201920212023Trade balance 2015: US$4.5 billion (exports US$10.7 billion, imports US$6.1 billion)Trade balance 2016: US$3.3 billion (exports US$9.5 billion, imports US$6.2 billion)Trade balance 2017: US$1.9 billion (exports US$5.8 billion, imports US$3.8 billion)Trade balance 2018: US$5.1 billion (exports US$8.6 billion, imports US$3.5 billion)Trade balance 2019: US$3.8 billion (exports US$7.7 billion, imports US$3.9 billion)Trade balance 2020: US$3.9 billion (exports US$7.3 billion, imports US$3.5 billion)Trade balance 2021: US$4.4 billion (exports US$8.0 billion, imports US$3.6 billion)Trade balance 2022: US$6.4 billion (exports US$10.5 billion, imports US$4.1 billion)Trade balance 2023: US$8.5 billion (exports US$12.7 billion, imports US$4.2 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Gabon

Foreign direct investment in Gabon was 2.3 times remittances in 2015.

Foreign direct investment net inflows were negative in 2017 and 2023: more investment left Gabon than came in.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
-500m0500m1.0bn201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: US$18 millionForeign direct investment 2015: US$42 millionForeign direct investment 2016: US$208 millionForeign direct investment 2017: -US$238 millionForeign direct investment 2018: US$49 millionForeign direct investment 2019: US$277 millionForeign direct investment 2020: US$100 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$437 millionForeign direct investment 2022: US$1000 millionForeign direct investment 2023: -US$283 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$310 millionForeign direct investment 2025: US$379 million

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
-2%0%2%4%6%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: 0.1%Foreign direct investment 2015: 0.3%Foreign direct investment 2016: 1.5%Foreign direct investment 2017: -1.6%Foreign direct investment 2018: 0.3%Foreign direct investment 2019: 1.6%Foreign direct investment 2020: 0.7%Foreign direct investment 2021: 2.2%Foreign direct investment 2022: 4.9%Foreign direct investment 2023: -1.5%Foreign direct investment 2024: 1.5%Foreign direct investment 2025: 1.8%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Gabon 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 26% of Gabon's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$883 million in 2024, 13% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralBondsCommercial banksRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn8.0bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$569 millionBilateral 2015: US$1.1 billionBonds 2015: US$2.2 billionCommercial banks 2015: US$812 millionRest of the total 2015: US$447 millionMultilateral 2016: US$563 millionBilateral 2016: US$1.1 billionBonds 2016: US$2.2 billionCommercial banks 2016: US$1.0 billionRest of the total 2016: US$463 millionMultilateral 2017: US$1.5 billionBilateral 2017: US$1.3 billionBonds 2017: US$2.2 billionCommercial banks 2017: US$1.0 billionRest of the total 2017: US$647 millionMultilateral 2018: US$1.7 billionBilateral 2018: US$1.4 billionBonds 2018: US$2.2 billionCommercial banks 2018: US$821 millionRest of the total 2018: US$799 millionMultilateral 2019: US$1.9 billionBilateral 2019: US$1.5 billionBonds 2019: US$2.2 billionCommercial banks 2019: US$568 millionRest of the total 2019: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2020: US$2.1 billionBilateral 2020: US$1.6 billionBonds 2020: US$2.4 billionCommercial banks 2020: US$501 millionRest of the total 2020: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2021: US$1.9 billionBilateral 2021: US$1.5 billionBonds 2021: US$2.6 billionCommercial banks 2021: US$406 millionRest of the total 2021: US$1.4 billionMultilateral 2022: US$1.9 billionBilateral 2022: US$1.4 billionBonds 2022: US$2.5 billionCommercial banks 2022: US$324 millionRest of the total 2022: US$1.8 billionMultilateral 2023: US$1.9 billionBilateral 2023: US$1.3 billionBonds 2023: US$2.0 billionCommercial banks 2023: US$800 millionRest of the total 2023: US$1.5 billionMultilateral 2024: US$1.8 billionBilateral 2024: US$1.3 billionBonds 2024: US$1.7 billionCommercial banks 2024: US$764 millionRest of the total 2024: US$1.3 billionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$883 millionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$1.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$1.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$1.2 billionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$1.2 billionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$1.2 billionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$1.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$1.0 billionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$908 millionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$883 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
0500m1.0bn1.5bn2.0bn024620152017201920212023Reserves 2015: US$1.9 billionReserves 2016: US$789 millionReserves 2017: US$965 millionReserves 2018: US$1.3 billionReserves 2019: US$1.4 billionReserves 2020: US$1.4 billionReserves 2021: US$1.3 billionReserves 2022: US$1.4 billionReserves 2023: US$1.4 billionReserves 2024: US$639 millionMonths of imports 2015: 4.2 months

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Gabon

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

050m100m150m20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$99 millionAid received 2016: US$42 millionAid received 2017: US$106 millionAid received 2018: US$117 millionAid received 2019: US$117 millionAid received 2020: US$55 millionAid received 2021: US$100 millionAid received 2022: US$135 millionAid received 2023: US$53 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Where Gabon 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 Gabon

World Bank data pages for Gabon: 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). Gabon economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances. Retrieved 10 Oct 2026 from https://pollsafrica.com/economy/gabon