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Somalia · Economy

Somalia economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Somalia 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$13.0 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
3.0%
2025
GDP per person
US$661
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$650 million
2025, as reported by trading partners
Remittances received
not published
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$834 million
2025, 6.4% of GDP

Somalia economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Somalia's GDP was US$13.0 billion in 2025, after real growth of 3.0%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

05.0bn10bn15bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$6.2 billionGDP 2016: US$6.6 billionGDP 2017: US$7.6 billionGDP 2018: US$7.9 billionGDP 2019: US$8.7 billionGDP 2020: US$8.6 billionGDP 2021: US$9.5 billionGDP 2022: US$10.2 billionGDP 2023: US$11.0 billionGDP 2024: US$12.0 billionGDP 2025: US$13.0 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-5%0%5%10%15%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 10.5%Real GDP growth 2016: 7.0%Real GDP growth 2017: 14.7%Real GDP growth 2018: 2.1%Real GDP growth 2019: 2.8%Real GDP growth 2020: -2.8%Real GDP growth 2021: 3.4%Real GDP growth 2022: 2.7%Real GDP growth 2023: 4.2%Real GDP growth 2024: 4.1%Real GDP growth 2025: 3.0%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

0200400600800201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$446GDP per person 2016: US$461GDP per person 2017: US$511GDP per person 2018: US$509GDP per person 2019: US$540GDP per person 2020: US$518GDP per person 2021: US$549GDP per person 2022: US$573GDP per person 2023: US$597GDP per person 2024: US$630GDP per person 2025: US$661

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Somalia and in what

Direct investment by investing country

Turkey was the largest investing country in Somalia, at 75% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

Inward direct investment positions in Somalia at the end of 2024: the stock of foreign direct investment, not a year's new flow. The 5 largest investing countries.

The IMF data holds no positions reported by Somalia itself. The figures are derived by the IMF from what the investing countries report, so they are shown as reported by investing countries.

TurkeyUS$21 million75.0%
United KingdomUS$3.8 million13.4%
NetherlandsUS$2.1 million7.4%
GermanyUS$1.0 million3.7%
ItalyUS$129 thousand0.5%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Somalia sells and buys

Somalia has not reported recent trade data to UN Comtrade. These figures are what 87 trading partners report about trade with Somalia, shown as reported by trading partners. Partners' imports from Somalia stand in for its exports and partners' exports to Somalia for its imports. They are not Somalia's own figures.

Live animals was 84% of exports in 2025.

Somalia sold the most to Saudi Arabia, 52% 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.

Animals: US$547 million, 84.1%Live animals84%Iron and steel: US$19 million, 3.0%Iron and s…3%Lac: US$16 million, 2.5%Lac, gums…2%Fruit and nuts, edible: US$11 million, 1.7%Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates: US$11 million, 1.7%Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits: US$9.6 million, 1.5%Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof: US$6.4 million, 1.0%Copper and articles thereof: US$5.4 million, 0.8%Meat and edible meat offal: US$5.2 million, 0.8%Aluminium and articles thereof: US$4.5 million, 0.7%Raw hides and skins (other than furskins) and leather: US$3.2 million, 0.5%Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products: US$2.2 million, 0.3%All other chapters: US$9.6 million, 1.5%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Top buyers, 2025

Share of Somalia's exports.

Saudi ArabiaUS$337 million51.8%
OmanUS$215 million33.1%
IndiaUS$39 million6.0%
EgyptUS$7.8 million1.2%
KuwaitUS$7.5 million1.2%
JapanUS$4.9 million0.8%
FranceUS$4.5 million0.7%
GermanyUS$4.3 million0.7%
South KoreaUS$3.3 million0.5%
MoroccoUS$3.2 million0.5%

Top suppliers, 2024

Share of Somalia's imports.

ChinaUS$968 million27.4%
IndiaUS$803 million22.7%
TurkeyUS$363 million10.2%
OmanUS$304 million8.6%
BrazilUS$154 million4.4%
KenyaUS$130 million3.7%
EgyptUS$123 million3.5%
IndonesiaUS$99 million2.8%
MalaysiaUS$97 million2.7%
PakistanUS$91 million2.6%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

What Somalia buys, 2024

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

SugarsUS$453 million12.8%
CerealsUS$307 million8.7%
Preparations of cerealsUS$176 million5.0%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$173 million4.9%
Products of the milling industryUS$166 million4.7%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$153 million4.3%
Man-made staple fibresUS$145 million4.1%
Pharmaceutical productsUS$129 million3.6%

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.

-6.0bn-4.0bn-2.0bn020152017201920212023Trade balance 2015: -US$1.5 billion (exports US$695 million, imports US$2.2 billion)Trade balance 2016: -US$2.0 billion (exports US$634 million, imports US$2.6 billion)Trade balance 2017: -US$2.6 billion (exports US$427 million, imports US$3.1 billion)Trade balance 2018: -US$3.0 billion (exports US$490 million, imports US$3.5 billion)Trade balance 2019: -US$3.6 billion (exports US$600 million, imports US$4.2 billion)Trade balance 2020: -US$3.9 billion (exports US$475 million, imports US$4.4 billion)Trade balance 2021: -US$4.6 billion (exports US$528 million, imports US$5.1 billion)Trade balance 2022: -US$5.1 billion (exports US$746 million, imports US$5.8 billion)Trade balance 2023: -US$4.2 billion (exports US$1.1 billion, imports US$5.3 billion)Trade balance 2024: -US$2.8 billion (exports US$750 million, imports US$3.5 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Somalia

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
0250m500m750m1.0bn201520172019202120232025Foreign direct investment 2015: US$303 millionForeign direct investment 2016: US$330 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$369 millionForeign direct investment 2018: US$408 millionForeign direct investment 2019: US$447 millionForeign direct investment 2020: US$534 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$601 millionForeign direct investment 2022: US$636 millionForeign direct investment 2023: US$677 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$765 millionForeign direct investment 2025: US$834 million

No remittances figures for Somalia are not published by the World Bank, so none are shown.

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%8%201520172019202120232025Foreign direct investment 2015: 4.9%Foreign direct investment 2016: 5.0%Foreign direct investment 2017: 4.8%Foreign direct investment 2018: 5.2%Foreign direct investment 2019: 5.2%Foreign direct investment 2020: 6.2%Foreign direct investment 2021: 6.3%Foreign direct investment 2022: 6.2%Foreign direct investment 2023: 6.2%Foreign direct investment 2024: 6.4%Foreign direct investment 2025: 6.4%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Somalia 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.

Bilateral creditors held 24% of Somalia's external debt stock in 2024.

MultilateralBilateralRest of the total
02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$710 millionBilateral 2015: US$1.0 billionRest of the total 2015: US$1.0 billionMultilateral 2016: US$698 millionBilateral 2016: US$1.0 billionRest of the total 2016: US$1.0 billionMultilateral 2017: US$725 millionBilateral 2017: US$1.1 billionRest of the total 2017: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2018: US$716 millionBilateral 2018: US$1.3 billionRest of the total 2018: US$3.3 billionMultilateral 2019: US$714 millionBilateral 2019: US$1.3 billionRest of the total 2019: US$3.3 billionMultilateral 2020: US$373 millionBilateral 2020: US$2.2 billionRest of the total 2020: US$2.0 billionMultilateral 2021: US$366 millionBilateral 2021: US$1.9 billionRest of the total 2021: US$1.8 billionMultilateral 2022: US$338 millionBilateral 2022: US$2.0 billionRest of the total 2022: US$1.8 billionMultilateral 2023: US$318 millionBilateral 2023: US$1.7 billionRest of the total 2023: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2024: US$227 millionBilateral 2024: US$437 millionRest of the total 2024: US$1.1 billion

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 Somalia are not published by the World Bank, so none are shown.

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Somalia

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn4.0bn20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$1.3 billionAid received 2016: US$1.2 billionAid received 2017: US$1.8 billionAid received 2018: US$1.6 billionAid received 2019: US$1.7 billionAid received 2020: US$3.0 billionAid received 2021: US$2.4 billionAid received 2022: US$2.0 billionAid received 2023: US$2.3 billion

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method