Poorest countries in Africa
African countries ranked from the lowest GDP per capita, with ten years of history and the IMF's projections to 2030, and a plain note on what the measure does and does not show.
What we mean by poorest
On this page, poorest means the lowest GDP per capita: a country's total economic output in a year, in US dollars, divided by its population. It is an average for the whole country.
It is not a count of people in poverty, and it does not describe how anyone lives. Other measures, such as the share of people below a poverty line, can give a different order. Countries recovering from conflict or with very small economies can sit near the bottom for reasons that differ from country to country.
We use current US dollars so every country sits on one scale. A fall in a country's currency lowers its figure in dollars.
Highest: Seychelles
19,007 US dollars per person
Lowest: South Sudan
454 US dollars per person
Middle country of 53
1,768 US dollars per person
Highest compared with lowest
41.9 times
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook database, October 2026 (DataMapper indicators NGDPDPC, NGDPD and LP). Last checked 24 October 2026.
View the data as a table
| Period | South Sudan | Burundi | Madagascar | Malawi | Mozambique |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,358 | 281 | 482 | 498 | 599 |
| 2016 | 261 | 263 | 489 | 415 | 434 |
| 2017 | 267 | 276 | 528 | 467 | 463 |
| 2018 | 253 | 256 | 536 | 501 | 510 |
| 2019 | 388 | 245 | 532 | 544 | 512 |
| 2020 | 507 | 245 | 477 | 568 | 457 |
| 2021 | 547 | 259 | 509 | 581 | 504 |
| 2022 | 683 | 295 | 530 | 567 | 573 |
| 2023 | 659 | 314 | 539 | 591 | 617 |
| 2024 | 386 | 343 | 575 | 504 | 654 |
| 2025 | 454 | 469 | 619 | 627 | 659 |
| 2026 | 642 (partial) | 510 (partial) | 649 (partial) | 740 (partial) | 673 (partial) |
| 2027 | 683 (partial) | 551 (partial) | 684 (partial) | 785 (partial) | 692 (partial) |
| 2028 | 659 (partial) | 568 (partial) | 735 (partial) | 789 (partial) | 706 (partial) |
| 2029 | 653 (partial) | 585 (partial) | 788 (partial) | 828 (partial) | 725 (partial) |
| 2030 | 655 (partial) | 594 (partial) | 842 (partial) | 859 (partial) | 794 (partial) |
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook database, October 2026 (DataMapper indicators NGDPDPC, NGDPD and LP). Last checked 24 October 2026.
View the data as a table
| Item | 2015 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burkina Faso | 630 | 1,150 | +520 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 520 | 872 | +352 |
| Burundi | 281 | 469 | +188 |
| Gambia | 609 | 974 | +365 |
| Ethiopia | 725 | 1,142 | +417 |
| Rwanda | 750 | 1,156 | +406 |
| Niger | 484 | 730 | +246 |
| Mali | 839 | 1,238 | +399 |
| Somalia | 532 | 780 | +248 |
| Central African Republic | 574 | 841 | +267 |
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook database, October 2026 (DataMapper indicators NGDPDPC, NGDPD and LP). Last checked 24 October 2026.
Countries with no 2015 figure in the IMF series are left out.
Showing 54 of 54
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Algeria | Northern Africa | 5,997 | 284.5 | 47.4 | 27.8 | 6,744 |
| 38 | Angola | Middle Africa | 3,588 | 140.7 | 39.2 | -23.3 | 3,593 |
| 26 | Benin | Western Africa | 1,661 | 24.6 | 14.8 | 65.6 | 2,246 |
| 49 | Botswana | Southern Africa | 7,802 | 19.9 | 2.5 | 27.0 | 11,167 |
| 15 | Burkina Faso | Western Africa | 1,150 | 27.7 | 24.1 | 82.5 | 1,552 |
| 2 | Burundi | Eastern Africa | 469 | 6.8 | 14.5 | 66.9 | 594 |
| 45 | Cabo Verde | Western Africa | 5,961 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 67.4 | 8,450 |
| 29 | Cameroon | Middle Africa | 1,980 | 59.2 | 29.9 | 39.9 | 2,551 |
| 9 | Central African Republic | Middle Africa | 841 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 46.5 | 1,014 |
| 17 | Chad | Middle Africa | 1,158 | 22.0 | 19.0 | 12.2 | 1,491 |
| 27 | Comoros | Eastern Africa | 1,768 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 33.6 | 2,089 |
| 30 | Congo | Middle Africa | 2,378 | 15.4 | 6.5 | -3.2 | 2,743 |
| 10 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Middle Africa | 872 | 92.9 | 106.6 | 67.7 | 1,267 |
| 34 | Côte d'Ivoire | Western Africa | 3,037 | 99.9 | 32.9 | 64.5 | 4,054 |
| 41 | Djibouti | Eastern Africa | 4,251 | 4.5 | 1.1 | 60.2 | 5,690 |
| 37 | Egypt | Northern Africa | 3,379 | 364.6 | 107.9 | -14.1 | 5,094 |
| 50 | Equatorial Guinea | Middle Africa | 7,850 | 12.9 | 1.6 | -30.0 | 7,803 |
| 54 | Eritrea | Eastern Africa | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| 40 | Eswatini | Southern Africa | 4,148 | 5.2 | 1.3 | 21.4 | 5,572 |
| 14 | Ethiopia | Eastern Africa | 1,142 | 126.4 | 110.6 | 57.5 | 1,796 |
| 51 | Gabon | Middle Africa | 9,491 | 21.9 | 2.3 | 27.3 | 10,977 |
| 13 | Gambia | Western Africa | 974 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 59.9 | 1,267 |
| 35 | Ghana | Western Africa | 3,271 | 114.7 | 35.1 | 89.8 | 4,028 |
| 32 | Guinea | Western Africa | 2,675 | 42.3 | 15.8 | 146.8 | 3,858 |
| 23 | Guinea-Bissau | Western Africa | 1,315 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 85.7 | 1,753 |
| 31 | Kenya | Eastern Africa | 2,548 | 135.9 | 53.4 | 56.8 | 3,295 |
| 18 | Lesotho | Southern Africa | 1,170 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 11.9 | 1,463 |
| 12 | Liberia | Western Africa | 910 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 31.7 | 1,178 |
| 47 | Libya | Northern Africa | 5,998 | 44.7 | 7.5 | -19.6 | 6,142 |
| 3 | Madagascar | Eastern Africa | 619 | 19.5 | 31.4 | 28.4 | 842 |
| 4 | Malawi | Eastern Africa | 627 | 15.1 | 24.1 | 25.9 | 859 |
| 20 | Mali | Western Africa | 1,238 | 31.2 | 25.2 | 47.6 | 1,587 |
| 33 | Mauritania | Western Africa | 2,723 | 12.6 | 4.6 | 63.2 | 3,322 |
| 52 | Mauritius | Eastern Africa | 12,935 | 16.1 | 1.2 | 35.3 | 17,412 |
| 43 | Morocco | Northern Africa | 4,878 | 184.0 | 37.7 | 50.7 | 6,632 |
| 5 | Mozambique | Eastern Africa | 659 | 23.6 | 35.8 | 10.0 | 794 |
| 44 | Namibia | Southern Africa | 4,924 | 15.1 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 6,713 |
| 7 | Niger | Western Africa | 730 | 21.3 | 29.1 | 50.8 | 914 |
| 19 | Nigeria | Western Africa | 1,223 | 290.5 | 237.6 | -66.5 | 2,057 |
| 16 | Rwanda | Eastern Africa | 1,156 | 16.4 | 14.2 | 54.1 | 1,570 |
| 39 | São Tomé and Príncipe | Middle Africa | 4,084 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 212.5 | 6,080 |
| 28 | Senegal | Western Africa | 1,934 | 37.1 | 19.2 | 58.7 | Not published |
| 53 | Seychelles | Eastern Africa | 19,007 | 2.3 | 0.1 | Not published | 22,417 |
| 11 | Sierra Leone | Western Africa | 874 | 7.7 | 8.8 | -8.9 | 1,046 |
| 8 | Somalia | Eastern Africa | 780 | 13.2 | 17.0 | 46.6 | 1,070 |
| 48 | South Africa | Southern Africa | 6,769 | 427.1 | 63.1 | 8.8 | 8,619 |
| 1 | South Sudan | Eastern Africa | 454 | 5.5 | 12.2 | -66.6 | 655 |
| 6 | Sudan | Northern Africa | 724 | 36.5 | 50.4 | -56.9 | 628 |
| 21 | Tanzania | Eastern Africa | 1,270 | 89.6 | 70.5 | 39.3 | 1,712 |
| 24 | Togo | Western Africa | 1,371 | 11.9 | 8.7 | 68.4 | 1,808 |
| 42 | Tunisia | Northern Africa | 4,637 | 57.3 | 12.3 | 15.5 | 5,284 |
| 25 | Uganda | Eastern Africa | 1,384 | 66.5 | 48.0 | 63.0 | 1,858 |
| 22 | Zambia | Eastern Africa | 1,310 | 28.7 | 21.9 | 1.1 | 2,362 |
| 36 | Zimbabwe | Eastern Africa | 3,358 | 58.3 | 17.4 | 68.1 | 3,805 |
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook database, October 2026 (DataMapper indicators NGDPDPC, NGDPD and LP). Last checked 24 October 2026.
How to read this ranking
- Every figure is in current US dollars, so countries sit on one scale. When a country's currency loses value against the dollar, its figure in dollars falls even if prices at home did not change in the same way.
- The numbers for 2015 to 2025 are the IMF's published history. For the most recent years they include IMF estimates, and they can be revised in each new edition. Figures from 2026 onward are IMF projections, not our forecasts, and they are drawn with a dashed line.
- Rank order can change a lot from one edition to the next for countries that are close together. Read the gap between countries, not only the rank.
What is missing
- No figure for 2025: Eritrea. They are not ranked.
- No IMF projection to 2030 in this edition: Senegal.
- No 2015 figure in the IMF series, so they are left out of the change chart: Seychelles.
Method and sources
Source: the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook database, October 2026 edition. We use three indicators for 54 African countries: GDP per capita in current US dollars, GDP in current US dollars and population.
We rank countries on the latest year with a published figure and show the ten years before it. We do not fill gaps. A country with no figure for the latest year is listed under what is missing.
We checked the figures at the source on 24 October 2026. The IMF can change them in later editions, and we update this page when a new edition is released.
IMF World Economic Outlook data. Download all the figures as CSV.
More rankings
- Richest countries in Africa
- Largest economies in Africa
- African countries by population
- All Africa rankings
- Life expectancy in Africa by country
- Safest countries in Africa
- Largest countries in Africa by area
- Smallest countries in Africa
- Youngest presidents in Africa
- Oldest presidents in Africa
- Longest serving presidents in Africa
Updated from the October 2026 IMF outlook.
Frequently asked questions
What is GDP per capita?
It is a country's total economic output in a year divided by its population. It is an average per person, not what a typical person earns or owns.
Where do the numbers come from?
From the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook database, October 2026 edition. The source and the date we checked it are shown under every chart.
Are the projections yours?
No. Figures from 2026 onward are the IMF's projections. We show them with a dashed line so they are never mistaken for history.
How often is this page updated?
When the IMF publishes a new edition of the outlook, usually in April and October.
Can I use these figures?
Please link to this page and name the IMF as the original source when you use a figure.