PollsAfricaWork with us
Sudan · Economy

Sudan economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Sudan 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$60.2 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
3.1%
2025
GDP per person
US$1,165
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$5.0 billion
2023, as reported by trading partners
Remittances received
US$12 million
2025, 0.0% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$2 thousand
2025, 0.0% of GDP

Sudan economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Sudan's GDP was US$60.2 billion in 2025, after real growth of 3.1%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

020bn40bn60bn80bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$51.7 billionGDP 2016: US$42.6 billionGDP 2017: US$41.3 billionGDP 2018: US$32.3 billionGDP 2019: US$32.3 billionGDP 2020: US$27.0 billionGDP 2021: US$34.2 billionGDP 2022: US$51.7 billionGDP 2023: US$39.9 billionGDP 2024: US$49.7 billionGDP 2025: US$60.2 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-30%-20%-10%0%10%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 1.9%Real GDP growth 2016: 3.5%Real GDP growth 2017: 0.7%Real GDP growth 2018: -2.7%Real GDP growth 2019: -2.2%Real GDP growth 2020: -3.6%Real GDP growth 2021: -1.9%Real GDP growth 2022: -1.0%Real GDP growth 2023: -29.4%Real GDP growth 2024: -14.0%Real GDP growth 2025: 3.1%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

05001k2k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$1,292GDP per person 2016: US$1,033GDP per person 2017: US$967GDP per person 2018: US$731GDP per person 2019: US$710GDP per person 2020: US$578GDP per person 2021: US$712GDP per person 2022: US$1,046GDP per person 2023: US$797GDP per person 2024: US$985GDP per person 2025: US$1,165

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Sudan and in what

Direct investment by investing country

China was the largest investing country in Sudan, at 140% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

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

ChinaUS$789 million140.4%
South KoreaUS$45 million8.0%
ItalyUS$38 million6.7%
TurkeyUS$20 million3.6%
LuxembourgUS$20 million3.5%
IndiaUS$6.6 million1.2%
DenmarkUS$4.6 million0.8%
NetherlandsUS$2.1 million0.4%
LebanonUS$1.5 million0.3%
NorwayUS$176 thousand0.0%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Sudan sells and buys

Sudan has not reported recent trade data to UN Comtrade. These figures are what 129 trading partners report about trade with Sudan, shown as reported by trading partners. Partners' imports from Sudan stand in for its exports and partners' exports to Sudan for its imports. They are not Sudan's own figures.

Oil seeds and grains was 24% of exports in 2023.

Sudan sold the most to United Arab Emirates, 22% 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.

Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits: US$1.2 billion, 24.1%Oil seeds and grains24%Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation: US$1.1 billion, 22.2%Mineral fuels and oils22%Natural, cultured pearls: US$1.0 billion, 20.7%Pearls, precious ston…21%Animals: US$867 million, 17.4%Live animals17%Cotton: US$247 million, 5.0%Cotton5%Lac: US$154 million, 3.1%Vegetables and certain roots and tubers: US$149 million, 3.0%Food industries, residues and wastes thereof: US$80 million, 1.6%Meat and edible meat offal: US$34 million, 0.7%Copper and articles thereof: US$26 million, 0.5%Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products: US$21 million, 0.4%Raw hides and skins (other than furskins) and leather: US$14 million, 0.3%All other chapters: US$54 million, 1.1%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

Top buyers, 2023

Share of Sudan's exports.

United Arab EmiratesUS$1.1 billion21.8%
ChinaUS$882 million17.7%
Saudi ArabiaUS$802 million16.1%
MalaysiaUS$470 million9.4%
EgyptUS$388 million7.8%
IndiaUS$356 million7.1%
ItalyUS$301 million6.0%
SingaporeUS$185 million3.7%
TurkeyUS$145 million2.9%
FranceUS$78 million1.6%

Top suppliers, 2023

Share of Sudan's imports.

ChinaUS$1.3 billion20.2%
IndiaUS$1.2 billion18.8%
EgyptUS$989 million15.5%
United Arab EmiratesUS$861 million13.5%
Saudi ArabiaUS$428 million6.7%
TurkeyUS$351 million5.5%
UgandaUS$116 million1.8%
BelgiumUS$86 million1.4%
IndonesiaUS$83 million1.3%
United StatesUS$55 million0.9%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

What Sudan buys, 2023

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

SugarsUS$836 million13.1%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$446 million7.0%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$387 million6.1%
Pharmaceutical productsUS$352 million5.5%
Products of the milling industryUS$341 million5.4%
VehiclesUS$325 million5.1%
Mineral fuels and oilsUS$280 million4.4%
PlasticsUS$229 million3.6%

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.

-6.0bn-4.0bn-2.0bn020152017201920212023Trade balance 2015: -US$4.3 billion (exports US$3.8 billion, imports US$8.1 billion)Trade balance 2016: -US$3.7 billion (exports US$3.7 billion, imports US$7.4 billion)Trade balance 2017: -US$3.9 billion (exports US$5.0 billion, imports US$8.9 billion)Trade balance 2018: -US$3.6 billion (exports US$4.2 billion, imports US$7.8 billion)Trade balance 2019: -US$4.0 billion (exports US$4.1 billion, imports US$8.1 billion)Trade balance 2020: -US$4.7 billion (exports US$4.2 billion, imports US$8.8 billion)Trade balance 2021: -US$2.9 billion (exports US$5.7 billion, imports US$8.5 billion)Trade balance 2022: -US$4.1 billion (exports US$6.0 billion, imports US$10.1 billion)Trade balance 2023: -US$1.4 billion (exports US$5.0 billion, imports US$6.4 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2023. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Sudan

Remittances to Sudan were 6285.2 times foreign direct investment in 2025.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
0500m1.0bn1.5bn2.0bn201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: US$151 millionRemittances 2016: US$153 millionRemittances 2017: US$213 millionRemittances 2018: US$425 millionRemittances 2019: US$522 millionRemittances 2020: US$495 millionRemittances 2021: US$1.1 billionRemittances 2022: US$1.5 billionRemittances 2023: US$798 millionRemittances 2024: US$23 millionRemittances 2025: US$12 millionForeign direct investment 2015: US$1.7 billionForeign direct investment 2016: US$1.1 billionForeign direct investment 2017: US$1.1 billionForeign direct investment 2018: US$1.1 billionForeign direct investment 2019: US$825 millionForeign direct investment 2020: US$717 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$523 millionForeign direct investment 2022: US$574 millionForeign direct investment 2023: US$548 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$5 thousandForeign direct investment 2025: US$2 thousand

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%1%2%3%4%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: 0.3%Remittances 2016: 0.4%Remittances 2017: 0.5%Remittances 2018: 1.3%Remittances 2019: 1.6%Remittances 2020: 1.8%Remittances 2021: 3.3%Remittances 2022: 2.9%Remittances 2023: 2.0%Remittances 2024: 0.0%Remittances 2025: 0.0%Foreign direct investment 2015: 3.3%Foreign direct investment 2016: 2.5%Foreign direct investment 2017: 2.6%Foreign direct investment 2018: 3.5%Foreign direct investment 2019: 2.6%Foreign direct investment 2020: 2.7%Foreign direct investment 2021: 1.5%Foreign direct investment 2022: 1.1%Foreign direct investment 2023: 1.4%Foreign direct investment 2024: 0.0%Foreign direct investment 2025: 0.0%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Sudan 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 36% of Sudan's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$921 million in 2024, 4% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralCommercial banksRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
010bn20bn30bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$3.4 billionBilateral 2015: US$8.0 billionCommercial banks 2015: US$2.0 billionRest of the total 2015: US$8.3 billionMultilateral 2016: US$3.3 billionBilateral 2016: US$7.8 billionCommercial banks 2016: US$2.0 billionRest of the total 2016: US$8.2 billionMultilateral 2017: US$3.5 billionBilateral 2017: US$7.9 billionCommercial banks 2017: US$2.1 billionRest of the total 2017: US$8.5 billionMultilateral 2018: US$3.4 billionBilateral 2018: US$7.8 billionCommercial banks 2018: US$2.0 billionRest of the total 2018: US$8.6 billionMultilateral 2019: US$3.7 billionBilateral 2019: US$8.5 billionCommercial banks 2019: US$2.1 billionRest of the total 2019: US$8.6 billionMultilateral 2020: US$3.7 billionBilateral 2020: US$8.5 billionCommercial banks 2020: US$2.3 billionRest of the total 2020: US$9.3 billionMultilateral 2021: US$2.5 billionBilateral 2021: US$8.3 billionCommercial banks 2021: US$2.2 billionRest of the total 2021: US$9.9 billionMultilateral 2022: US$2.4 billionBilateral 2022: US$8.2 billionCommercial banks 2022: US$2.2 billionRest of the total 2022: US$9.7 billionMultilateral 2023: US$2.3 billionBilateral 2023: US$8.1 billionCommercial banks 2023: US$2.4 billionRest of the total 2023: US$9.8 billionMultilateral 2024: US$2.2 billionBilateral 2024: US$8.0 billionCommercial banks 2024: US$2.2 billionRest of the total 2024: US$9.6 billionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$1.6 billionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$1.5 billionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$1.4 billionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$1.3 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$983 millionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$921 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
050m100m150m200m0000201520162017Reserves 2015: US$174 millionReserves 2016: US$168 millionReserves 2017: US$178 millionMonths of imports 2015: 0.2 monthsMonths of imports 2016: 0.2 monthsMonths of imports 2017: 0.2 months

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Sudan

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn4.0bn20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$970 millionAid received 2016: US$809 millionAid received 2017: US$862 millionAid received 2018: US$968 millionAid received 2019: US$1.5 billionAid received 2020: US$2.4 billionAid received 2021: US$3.8 billionAid received 2022: US$1.5 billionAid received 2023: US$1.4 billion

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method