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Mali · Economy

Mali economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Mali 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$30.1 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
5.6%
2025
GDP per person
US$1,193
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$3.6 billion
2024
Remittances received
US$1.1 billion
2024, 4.0% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$844 million
2025, 2.8% of GDP

Mali economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Mali's GDP was US$30.1 billion in 2025, after real growth of 5.6%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

010bn20bn30bn40bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$15.6 billionGDP 2016: US$16.7 billionGDP 2017: US$18.3 billionGDP 2018: US$20.4 billionGDP 2019: US$20.5 billionGDP 2020: US$20.7 billionGDP 2021: US$23.0 billionGDP 2022: US$22.5 billionGDP 2023: US$24.8 billionGDP 2024: US$26.8 billionGDP 2025: US$30.1 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-2%0%2%4%6%8%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 6.2%Real GDP growth 2016: 6.0%Real GDP growth 2017: 5.4%Real GDP growth 2018: 4.9%Real GDP growth 2019: 5.0%Real GDP growth 2020: -1.2%Real GDP growth 2021: 3.1%Real GDP growth 2022: 3.7%Real GDP growth 2023: 4.8%Real GDP growth 2024: 5.0%Real GDP growth 2025: 5.6%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

05001k2k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$838GDP per person 2016: US$872GDP per person 2017: US$924GDP per person 2018: US$996GDP per person 2019: US$972GDP per person 2020: US$953GDP per person 2021: US$1,027GDP per person 2022: US$977GDP per person 2023: US$1,042GDP per person 2024: US$1,093GDP per person 2025: US$1,193

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Mali and in what

Direct investment by investing country

Canada was the largest investing country in Mali, at 38% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

Inward direct investment positions in Mali at the end of 2024: the stock of foreign direct investment, not a year's new flow. The 10 largest investing countries.

CanadaUS$2.1 billion38.3%
South AfricaUS$1.0 billion18.9%
British Virgin IslandsUS$842 million15.1%
AustraliaUS$537 million9.7%
SenegalUS$314 million5.6%
Côte d'IvoireUS$210 million3.8%
MoroccoUS$155 million2.8%
TogoUS$98 million1.8%
United Arab EmiratesUS$90 million1.6%
MauritaniaUS$70 million1.2%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Mali sells and buys

Pearls, precious stones and metals was 73% of exports in 2024.

Mali sold the most to South Africa, 56% 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.

Natural, cultured pearls: US$2.6 billion, 73.1%Pearls, precious stones and metals73%Cotton: US$327 million, 9.1%Cotton9%Animals: US$186 million, 5.2%Live animals5%Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation: US$104 million, 2.9%Machinery and mechanical appliances, boilers, nuclear reactors: US$40 million, 1.1%Fertilizers: US$34 million, 0.9%Iron and steel: US$30 million, 0.8%Ores, slag and ash: US$29 million, 0.8%Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits: US$23 million, 0.6%Vehicles: US$19 million, 0.5%Fruit and nuts, edible: US$19 million, 0.5%Lac: US$15 million, 0.4%All other chapters: US$147 million, 4.1%All other…4%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Top buyers, 2024

Share of Mali's exports.

South AfricaUS$2.0 billion56.2%
AustraliaUS$419 million11.6%
Côte d'IvoireUS$178 million4.9%
BangladeshUS$159 million4.4%
IndiaUS$156 million4.3%
SenegalUS$129 million3.6%
SwitzerlandUS$118 million3.3%
United Arab EmiratesUS$86 million2.4%
GuineaUS$47 million1.3%
Burkina FasoUS$44 million1.2%

Top suppliers, 2024

Share of Mali's imports.

SenegalUS$1.3 billion21.8%
Côte d'IvoireUS$1.3 billion21.0%
ChinaUS$1.1 billion17.7%
FranceUS$356 million5.8%
IndiaUS$254 million4.2%
United StatesUS$127 million2.1%
TurkeyUS$122 million2.0%
FinlandUS$103 million1.7%
JapanUS$103 million1.7%
GermanyUS$99 million1.6%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

What Mali buys, 2024

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Mineral fuels and oilsUS$2.1 billion34.5%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$548 million9.0%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$515 million8.5%
Salt, sulphur, earth and stoneUS$329 million5.4%
VehiclesUS$282 million4.6%
CerealsUS$282 million4.6%
Pharmaceutical productsUS$280 million4.6%
FertilisersUS$160 million2.6%

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.

-3.0bn-2.0bn-1.0bn020162018202020222024Trade balance 2016: -US$998 million (exports US$2.8 billion, imports US$3.8 billion)Trade balance 2017: -US$2.4 billion (exports US$1.9 billion, imports US$4.3 billion)Trade balance 2018: -US$986 million (exports US$3.6 billion, imports US$4.6 billion)Trade balance 2019: -US$1.4 billion (exports US$3.6 billion, imports US$5.0 billion)Trade balance 2020: -US$1.4 billion (exports US$4.0 billion, imports US$5.3 billion)Trade balance 2021: -US$1.6 billion (exports US$4.2 billion, imports US$5.8 billion)Trade balance 2022: -US$2.5 billion (exports US$3.9 billion, imports US$6.5 billion)Trade balance 2023: -US$2.4 billion (exports US$4.0 billion, imports US$6.4 billion)Trade balance 2024: -US$2.5 billion (exports US$3.6 billion, imports US$6.1 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Mali

Remittances to Mali were 1.2 times foreign direct investment in 2024.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
0500m1.0bn1.5bn201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: US$817 millionRemittances 2016: US$827 millionRemittances 2017: US$885 millionRemittances 2018: US$1.0 billionRemittances 2019: US$972 millionRemittances 2020: US$997 millionRemittances 2021: US$1.1 billionRemittances 2022: US$1.1 billionRemittances 2023: US$1.0 billionRemittances 2024: US$1.1 billionForeign direct investment 2015: US$276 millionForeign direct investment 2016: US$356 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$561 millionForeign direct investment 2018: US$467 millionForeign direct investment 2019: US$859 millionForeign direct investment 2020: US$537 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$640 millionForeign direct investment 2022: US$715 millionForeign direct investment 2023: US$703 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$921 millionForeign direct investment 2025: US$844 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
0%2%4%6%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: 5.2%Remittances 2016: 4.9%Remittances 2017: 4.8%Remittances 2018: 5.0%Remittances 2019: 4.7%Remittances 2020: 4.8%Remittances 2021: 4.9%Remittances 2022: 4.9%Remittances 2023: 4.2%Remittances 2024: 4.0%Foreign direct investment 2015: 1.8%Foreign direct investment 2016: 2.1%Foreign direct investment 2017: 3.1%Foreign direct investment 2018: 2.3%Foreign direct investment 2019: 4.2%Foreign direct investment 2020: 2.6%Foreign direct investment 2021: 2.8%Foreign direct investment 2022: 3.2%Foreign direct investment 2023: 2.8%Foreign direct investment 2024: 3.4%Foreign direct investment 2025: 2.8%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Mali 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 64% of Mali's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$500 million in 2024, 8% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralCommercial banksRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn8.0bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$2.5 billionBilateral 2015: US$876 millionCommercial banks 2015: US$712 thousandRest of the total 2015: US$338 millionMultilateral 2016: US$2.5 billionBilateral 2016: US$935 millionCommercial banks 2016: US$371 thousandRest of the total 2016: US$368 millionMultilateral 2017: US$2.9 billionBilateral 2017: US$972 millionCommercial banks 2017: US$165 thousandRest of the total 2017: US$426 millionMultilateral 2018: US$3.1 billionBilateral 2018: US$990 millionCommercial banks 2018: US$143 thousandRest of the total 2018: US$550 millionMultilateral 2019: US$3.4 billionBilateral 2019: US$1.1 billionRest of the total 2019: US$546 millionMultilateral 2020: US$3.8 billionBilateral 2020: US$1.3 billionRest of the total 2020: US$753 millionMultilateral 2021: US$3.8 billionBilateral 2021: US$1.6 billionRest of the total 2021: US$1.0 billionMultilateral 2022: US$3.7 billionBilateral 2022: US$1.6 billionRest of the total 2022: US$932 millionMultilateral 2023: US$4.0 billionBilateral 2023: US$1.5 billionRest of the total 2023: US$916 millionMultilateral 2024: US$4.1 billionBilateral 2024: US$1.5 billionRest of the total 2024: US$822 millionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$451 millionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$512 millionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$541 millionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$519 millionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$545 millionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$597 millionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$608 millionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$532 millionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$486 millionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$500 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Reserves and months of import cover

Total reserves including gold, and how many months of imports they cover.

No reserves figures for Mali are not published by the World Bank, so none are shown.

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Mali

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

0500m1.0bn1.5bn2.0bn20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$1.2 billionAid received 2016: US$1.2 billionAid received 2017: US$1.4 billionAid received 2018: US$1.6 billionAid received 2019: US$1.8 billionAid received 2020: US$1.6 billionAid received 2021: US$1.4 billionAid received 2022: US$1.2 billionAid received 2023: US$1.3 billion

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method