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Liberia · Economy

Liberia economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Liberia 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$5.2 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
5.0%
2025
GDP per person
US$915
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$469 million
2025
Remittances received
US$1.0 billion
2024, 21.3% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$500 million
2025, 9.5% of GDP

Liberia economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Liberia's GDP was US$5.2 billion in 2025, after real growth of 5.0%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$3.2 billionGDP 2016: US$3.4 billionGDP 2017: US$3.4 billionGDP 2018: US$3.4 billionGDP 2019: US$3.3 billionGDP 2020: US$3.2 billionGDP 2021: US$3.5 billionGDP 2022: US$4.0 billionGDP 2023: US$4.4 billionGDP 2024: US$4.8 billionGDP 2025: US$5.2 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-4%-2%0%2%4%6%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: -0.0%Real GDP growth 2016: -1.6%Real GDP growth 2017: 2.5%Real GDP growth 2018: 1.2%Real GDP growth 2019: -2.5%Real GDP growth 2020: -3.0%Real GDP growth 2021: 5.0%Real GDP growth 2022: 4.8%Real GDP growth 2023: 4.7%Real GDP growth 2024: 4.0%Real GDP growth 2025: 5.0%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

02505007501k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$693GDP per person 2016: US$715GDP per person 2017: US$699GDP per person 2018: US$692GDP per person 2019: US$658GDP per person 2020: US$617GDP per person 2021: US$668GDP per person 2022: US$745GDP per person 2023: US$799GDP per person 2024: US$851GDP per person 2025: US$915

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Liberia and in what

Direct investment by investing country

Hong Kong was the largest investing country in Liberia, at 87% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

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

Hong KongUS$10.6 billion87.3%
NorwayUS$238 million2.0%
GreeceUS$236 million1.9%
MauritiusUS$214 million1.8%
South KoreaUS$213 million1.8%
CroatiaUS$148 million1.2%
ChinaUS$128 million1.1%
SpainUS$113 million0.9%
PolandUS$109 million0.9%
NigeriaUS$64 million0.5%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Liberia sells and buys

Ores, slag and ash was 44% of exports in 2025.

Liberia sold the most to France, 25% 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.

Ores, slag and ash: US$205 million, 43.7%Ores, slag and ash44%Rubber and articles thereof: US$138 million, 29.4%Rubber and articles thereof29%Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products: US$62 million, 13.2%Fats and oils13%Machinery and mechanical appliances, boilers, nuclear reactors: US$24 million, 5.1%Machinery and…5%Vehicles: US$12 million, 2.5%Beverages, spirits and vinegar: US$7.5 million, 1.6%Cocoa and cocoa preparations: US$7.3 million, 1.6%Soap, organic surface-active agents: US$3.6 million, 0.8%Zinc and articles thereof: US$3.3 million, 0.7%Wood and articles of wood: US$2.2 million, 0.5%Ships, boats and floating structures: US$1.1 million, 0.2%Textiles, made up articles: US$730 thousand, 0.2%All other chapters: US$3.1 million, 0.7%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Top buyers, 2025

Share of Liberia's exports.

FranceUS$115 million24.5%
SpainUS$70 million14.8%
United StatesUS$59 million12.6%
MalaysiaUS$32 million6.7%
BelgiumUS$31 million6.5%
Sierra LeoneUS$25 million5.3%
NigeriaUS$23 million4.9%
NetherlandsUS$17 million3.6%
ChinaUS$12 million2.5%
PolandUS$11 million2.3%

Top suppliers, 2025

Share of Liberia's imports.

ChinaUS$581 million20.1%
Côte d'IvoireUS$543 million18.8%
IndiaUS$428 million14.8%
TurkeyUS$388 million13.5%
United StatesUS$83 million2.9%
JapanUS$75 million2.6%
SwedenUS$66 million2.3%
South AfricaUS$50 million1.7%
BrazilUS$50 million1.7%
IndonesiaUS$46 million1.6%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

What Liberia buys, 2025

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Mineral fuels and oilsUS$587 million20.3%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$363 million12.6%
VehiclesUS$343 million11.9%
CerealsUS$268 million9.3%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$227 million7.9%
Iron or steel articlesUS$96 million3.3%
PlasticsUS$95 million3.3%
Rubber and articles thereofUS$74 million2.6%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. 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.

-3.0bn-2.0bn-1.0bn020172019202120232025Trade balance 2017: -US$1.1 billion (exports US$195 million, imports US$1.3 billion)Trade balance 2018: -US$1.4 billion (exports US$163 million, imports US$1.6 billion)Trade balance 2019: -US$949 million (exports US$271 million, imports US$1.2 billion)Trade balance 2020: -US$768 million (exports US$418 million, imports US$1.2 billion)Trade balance 2021: -US$1.5 billion (exports US$172 million, imports US$1.7 billion)Trade balance 2022: -US$1.7 billion (exports US$203 million, imports US$1.9 billion)Trade balance 2023: -US$2.0 billion (exports US$154 million, imports US$2.2 billion)Trade balance 2024: -US$1.9 billion (exports US$222 million, imports US$2.1 billion)Trade balance 2025: -US$2.4 billion (exports US$469 million, imports US$2.9 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Liberia

Remittances to Liberia were 2.2 times foreign direct investment in 2024.

Foreign direct investment net inflows were negative in 2020 and 2021: more investment left Liberia than came in.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
-500m0500m1.0bn1.5bn201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: US$654 millionRemittances 2016: US$580 millionRemittances 2017: US$403 millionRemittances 2018: US$460 millionRemittances 2019: US$346 millionRemittances 2020: US$417 millionRemittances 2021: US$865 millionRemittances 2022: US$877 millionRemittances 2023: US$950 millionRemittances 2024: US$1.0 billionForeign direct investment 2015: US$233 millionForeign direct investment 2016: US$312 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$248 millionForeign direct investment 2018: US$129 millionForeign direct investment 2019: US$87 millionForeign direct investment 2020: -US$94 millionForeign direct investment 2021: -US$39 millionForeign direct investment 2022: US$124 millionForeign direct investment 2023: US$312 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$472 millionForeign direct investment 2025: US$500 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
-10%0%10%20%30%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: 20.3%Remittances 2016: 17.1%Remittances 2017: 11.9%Remittances 2018: 13.4%Remittances 2019: 10.4%Remittances 2020: 13.1%Remittances 2021: 24.6%Remittances 2022: 21.9%Remittances 2023: 21.6%Remittances 2024: 21.3%Foreign direct investment 2015: 7.2%Foreign direct investment 2016: 9.2%Foreign direct investment 2017: 7.3%Foreign direct investment 2018: 3.8%Foreign direct investment 2019: 2.6%Foreign direct investment 2020: -3.0%Foreign direct investment 2021: -1.1%Foreign direct investment 2022: 3.1%Foreign direct investment 2023: 7.1%Foreign direct investment 2024: 9.9%Foreign direct investment 2025: 9.5%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Liberia 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 57% of Liberia's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$50 million in 2024, 2% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralCommercial banksRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$320 millionBilateral 2015: US$114 millionRest of the total 2015: US$403 millionMultilateral 2016: US$393 millionBilateral 2016: US$132 millionRest of the total 2016: US$424 millionMultilateral 2017: US$503 millionBilateral 2017: US$152 millionRest of the total 2017: US$463 millionMultilateral 2018: US$597 millionBilateral 2018: US$115 millionRest of the total 2018: US$445 millionMultilateral 2019: US$705 millionBilateral 2019: US$117 millionRest of the total 2019: US$445 millionMultilateral 2020: US$828 millionBilateral 2020: US$118 millionRest of the total 2020: US$514 millionMultilateral 2021: US$898 millionBilateral 2021: US$119 millionRest of the total 2021: US$832 millionMultilateral 2022: US$995 millionBilateral 2022: US$114 millionRest of the total 2022: US$813 millionMultilateral 2023: US$1.2 billionBilateral 2023: US$116 millionCommercial banks 2023: US$7.0 millionRest of the total 2023: US$823 millionMultilateral 2024: US$1.3 billionBilateral 2024: US$113 millionCommercial banks 2024: US$27 millionRest of the total 2024: US$826 millionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$5.5 millionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$5.1 millionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$21 millionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$54 millionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$53 millionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$57 millionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$59 millionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$54 millionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$53 millionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$50 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
0200m400m600m800m0246201520172019202120232025Reserves 2015: US$561 millionReserves 2016: US$586 millionReserves 2017: US$586 millionReserves 2018: US$332 millionReserves 2019: US$297 millionReserves 2020: US$341 millionReserves 2021: US$701 millionReserves 2022: US$600 millionReserves 2023: US$441 millionReserves 2024: US$368 millionReserves 2025: US$339 millionMonths of imports 2015: 3.8 monthsMonths of imports 2016: 4.3 monthsMonths of imports 2017: 4.7 monthsMonths of imports 2018: 2.9 monthsMonths of imports 2019: 2.6 monthsMonths of imports 2020: 2.9 monthsMonths of imports 2021: 4.5 monthsMonths of imports 2022: 3.2 monthsMonths of imports 2023: 2.1 monthsMonths of imports 2024: 2.0 months

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Liberia

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

0500m1.0bn1.5bn20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$1.1 billionAid received 2016: US$819 millionAid received 2017: US$632 millionAid received 2018: US$594 millionAid received 2019: US$583 millionAid received 2020: US$653 millionAid received 2021: US$608 millionAid received 2022: US$485 millionAid received 2023: US$563 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method