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African economies
Mauritania · Economy

Mauritania economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Mauritania 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$11.7 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
4.0%
2025
GDP per person
US$2,198
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$4.5 billion
2025
Remittances received
US$95 million
2024, 0.9% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$634 million
2025, 5.4% of GDP

Mauritania economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Mauritania's GDP was US$11.7 billion in 2025, after real growth of 4.0%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

05.0bn10bn15bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$6.2 billionGDP 2016: US$6.4 billionGDP 2017: US$6.8 billionGDP 2018: US$7.5 billionGDP 2019: US$7.9 billionGDP 2020: US$8.3 billionGDP 2021: US$9.2 billionGDP 2022: US$9.6 billionGDP 2023: US$10.7 billionGDP 2024: US$10.9 billionGDP 2025: US$11.7 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-2%0%2%4%6%8%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 5.4%Real GDP growth 2016: 1.3%Real GDP growth 2017: 6.3%Real GDP growth 2018: 4.8%Real GDP growth 2019: 3.1%Real GDP growth 2020: -0.4%Real GDP growth 2021: 0.7%Real GDP growth 2022: 6.8%Real GDP growth 2023: 6.8%Real GDP growth 2024: 6.3%Real GDP growth 2025: 4.0%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

01k2k3k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$1,559GDP per person 2016: US$1,568GDP per person 2017: US$1,618GDP per person 2018: US$1,723GDP per person 2019: US$1,767GDP per person 2020: US$1,796GDP per person 2021: US$1,947GDP per person 2022: US$1,961GDP per person 2023: US$2,128GDP per person 2024: US$2,105GDP per person 2025: US$2,198

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Mauritania and in what

Direct investment by investing country

Netherlands was the largest investing country in Mauritania, at 62% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

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

NetherlandsUS$3.0 billion62.4%
South AfricaUS$1.9 billion39.9%
ChinaUS$263 million5.6%
AlgeriaUS$143 million3.0%
MauritiusUS$139 million2.9%
MoroccoUS$71 million1.5%
SpainUS$46 million1.0%
FinlandUS$1.0 million0.0%
SerbiaUS$45 thousand0.0%
ItalyUS$42 thousand0.0%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Mauritania sells and buys

Pearls, precious stones and metals was 36% of exports in 2025.

Mauritania sold the most to China, 22% 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.

Natural, cultured pearls: US$1.6 billion, 36.5%Pearls, precious stones and…36%Ores, slag and ash: US$1.4 billion, 31.2%Ores, slag and ash31%Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates: US$1.0 billion, 22.3%Fish and seafood22%Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation: US$249 million, 5.5%Mineral fuel…6%Food industries, residues and wastes thereof: US$59 million, 1.3%Iron or steel articles: US$28 million, 0.6%Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products: US$22 million, 0.5%Salt: US$20 million, 0.4%Meat, fish, crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or insects: US$14 million, 0.3%Cotton: US$13 million, 0.3%Machinery and mechanical appliances, boilers, nuclear reactors: US$12 million, 0.3%Fruit and nuts, edible: US$12 million, 0.3%All other chapters: US$20 million, 0.4%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Top buyers, 2025

Share of Mauritania's exports.

ChinaUS$971 million21.6%
CanadaUS$814 million18.1%
SwitzerlandUS$671 million14.9%
SpainUS$425 million9.5%
AlgeriaUS$252 million5.6%
TurkeyUS$193 million4.3%
ItalyUS$123 million2.7%
United Arab EmiratesUS$109 million2.4%
JapanUS$91 million2.0%
Côte d'IvoireUS$86 million1.9%

Top suppliers, 2025

Share of Mauritania's imports.

SpainUS$783 million13.0%
United Arab EmiratesUS$778 million12.9%
BelgiumUS$653 million10.8%
ChinaUS$546 million9.0%
United StatesUS$523 million8.6%
FranceUS$317 million5.3%
JapanUS$252 million4.2%
TurkeyUS$240 million4.0%
BrazilUS$216 million3.6%
GermanyUS$188 million3.1%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

What Mauritania buys, 2025

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Mineral fuels and oilsUS$1.7 billion27.6%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$1.1 billion18.4%
VehiclesUS$602 million10.0%
Fats and oilsUS$309 million5.1%
CerealsUS$289 million4.8%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$269 million4.5%
SugarsUS$245 million4.0%
Iron or steel articlesUS$210 million3.5%

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.

-2.0bn-1.5bn-1.0bn-500m0500m201520172019202120232025Trade balance 2015: -US$1.9 billion (exports US$1.8 billion, imports US$3.7 billion)Trade balance 2016: -US$551 million (exports US$1.6 billion, imports US$2.2 billion)Trade balance 2017: -US$1.5 billion (exports US$2.0 billion, imports US$3.5 billion)Trade balance 2018: -US$1.1 billion (exports US$2.1 billion, imports US$3.2 billion)Trade balance 2019: -US$1.3 billion (exports US$2.3 billion, imports US$3.5 billion)Trade balance 2020: US$85 million (exports US$2.8 billion, imports US$2.7 billion)Trade balance 2021: -US$593 million (exports US$3.3 billion, imports US$3.9 billion)Trade balance 2022: -US$1.3 billion (exports US$3.8 billion, imports US$5.1 billion)Trade balance 2023: -US$752 million (exports US$4.1 billion, imports US$4.8 billion)Trade balance 2024: -US$668 million (exports US$4.1 billion, imports US$4.8 billion)Trade balance 2025: -US$1.5 billion (exports US$4.5 billion, imports US$6.0 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Mauritania

Foreign direct investment in Mauritania was 15.2 times remittances in 2024.

Foreign direct investment net inflows were negative in 2019: more investment left Mauritania than came in.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
-1.0bn01.0bn2.0bn201520172019202120232025Remittances 2017: US$77 millionRemittances 2018: US$60 millionRemittances 2019: US$64 millionRemittances 2020: US$169 millionRemittances 2021: US$13 millionRemittances 2022: US$109 millionRemittances 2023: US$168 millionRemittances 2024: US$95 millionForeign direct investment 2015: US$502 millionForeign direct investment 2016: US$271 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$588 millionForeign direct investment 2018: US$773 millionForeign direct investment 2019: -US$884 millionForeign direct investment 2020: US$928 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$1.1 billionForeign direct investment 2022: US$1.4 billionForeign direct investment 2023: US$848 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$1.4 billionForeign direct investment 2025: US$634 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
-20%-10%0%10%20%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2017: 1.1%Remittances 2018: 0.8%Remittances 2019: 0.8%Remittances 2020: 2.0%Remittances 2021: 0.1%Remittances 2022: 1.1%Remittances 2023: 1.6%Remittances 2024: 0.9%Foreign direct investment 2015: 8.1%Foreign direct investment 2016: 4.2%Foreign direct investment 2017: 8.6%Foreign direct investment 2018: 10.3%Foreign direct investment 2019: -11.2%Foreign direct investment 2020: 11.2%Foreign direct investment 2021: 11.6%Foreign direct investment 2022: 14.7%Foreign direct investment 2023: 7.9%Foreign direct investment 2024: 13.2%Foreign direct investment 2025: 5.4%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Mauritania 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 49% of Mauritania's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$263 million in 2024, 6% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$2.1 billionBilateral 2015: US$1.6 billionRest of the total 2015: US$1.3 billionMultilateral 2016: US$2.2 billionBilateral 2016: US$1.6 billionRest of the total 2016: US$1.2 billionMultilateral 2017: US$2.4 billionBilateral 2017: US$1.6 billionRest of the total 2017: US$1.2 billionMultilateral 2018: US$2.3 billionBilateral 2018: US$1.7 billionRest of the total 2018: US$1.3 billionMultilateral 2019: US$2.4 billionBilateral 2019: US$1.7 billionRest of the total 2019: US$1.3 billionMultilateral 2020: US$2.5 billionBilateral 2020: US$1.7 billionRest of the total 2020: US$1.5 billionMultilateral 2021: US$2.3 billionBilateral 2021: US$1.7 billionRest of the total 2021: US$775 millionMultilateral 2022: US$2.2 billionBilateral 2022: US$1.6 billionRest of the total 2022: US$763 millionMultilateral 2023: US$2.2 billionBilateral 2023: US$1.5 billionRest of the total 2023: US$854 millionMultilateral 2024: US$2.2 billionBilateral 2024: US$1.4 billionRest of the total 2024: US$852 millionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$341 millionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$339 millionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$348 millionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$326 millionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$322 millionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$340 millionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$353 millionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$327 millionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$307 millionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$263 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
01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn02462015201620172018201920202021Reserves 2015: US$822 millionReserves 2016: US$848 millionReserves 2017: US$874 millionReserves 2018: US$934 millionReserves 2019: US$1.0 billionReserves 2020: US$1.5 billionReserves 2021: US$2.0 billionMonths of imports 2015: 3.5 monthsMonths of imports 2016: 3.8 monthsMonths of imports 2017: 3.5 monthsMonths of imports 2018: 3.3 monthsMonths of imports 2019: 3.2 monthsMonths of imports 2020: 4.6 monthsMonths of imports 2021: 5.4 months

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Mauritania

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

0200m400m600m800m20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$329 millionAid received 2016: US$307 millionAid received 2017: US$292 millionAid received 2018: US$448 millionAid received 2019: US$397 millionAid received 2020: US$647 millionAid received 2021: US$453 millionAid received 2022: US$328 millionAid received 2023: US$419 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

More on Mauritania

World Bank data pages for Mauritania: 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.