Economy · Africa ranking
Trade Openness (% of GDP) by African country
Djibouti has the highest trade as a share of GDP of any African country, at 206.3% — 1.2× Seychelles's 172.3%.
Exports plus imports of goods and services as a share of GDP. 52 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2025.
Latest available year varies by country (1960–2025); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
Djibouti
Seychelles
LesothoBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Trade Openness (% of GDP) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Djibouti | 206.3% | |
| 2 | Seychelles | 172.3% | |
| 3 | Lesotho | 154% | |
| 4 | Mauritius | 139.9% | |
| 5 | Libya | 137.7% | |
| 6 | Somalia | 128.1% | |
| 7 | Namibia | 108.6% | |
| 8 | Eswatini | 107.5% | |
| 9 | Guinea | 103.7% | |
| 10 | Tunisia | 101.4% | |
| 11 | Mozambique | 97.1% | |
| 12 | Cabo Verde | 95.3% | |
| 13 | Mauritania | 94% | |
| 14 | Morocco | 93.1% | |
| 15 | Republic of the Congo | 91.7% | |
| 16 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 87.3% | |
| 17 | Gabon | 84.9% | |
| 18 | Equatorial Guinea | 74.9% | |
| 19 | Senegal | 71.1% | |
| 20 | Botswana | 69.5% | |
| 21 | Ghana | 69% | |
| 22 | South Sudan | 65.6% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 23 | Burkina Faso | 65% | |
| 24 | Zambia | 62.5% | |
| 25 | Gambia | 62.2% | |
| 26 | South Africa | 60.9% | |
| 27 | Togo | 59.9% | |
| 28 | Rwanda | 56.7% | |
| 29 | Cote d'Ivoire | 54.6% | |
| 30 | Madagascar | 54.2% | |
| 31 | Central African Republic | 52.9% | |
| 32 | Egypt | 51.3% | |
| 33 | Uganda | 50.2% | |
| 34 | Sierra Leone | 49.1% | |
| 35 | Mali | 48.8% | |
| 36 | Eritrea | 47.4% ⚠ ’11 | |
| 37 | Sao Tome and Principe | 46.6% | |
| 38 | Chad | 46.1% | |
| 39 | Zimbabwe | 41.5% | |
| 40 | Comoros | 40.9% | |
| 41 | Guinea-Bissau | 40.9% | |
| 42 | Malawi | 39.4% | |
| 43 | Algeria | 39% | |
| 44 | Tanzania | 39% | |
| 45 | Kenya | 37.5% | |
| 46 | Benin | 37.1% | |
| 47 | Angola | 34.6% | |
| 48 | Niger | 33.9% | |
| 49 | Ethiopia | 33.5% | |
| 50 | Cameroon | 33.4% | |
| 51 | Nigeria | 26.2% ⚠ ’60 | |
| 52 | Sudan | 2.4% |
Mauritius
Libya
Somalia
Namibia
Eswatini
Guinea
Tunisia
Mozambique
Cabo Verde
Mauritania
Morocco
Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gabon
Equatorial Guinea
Senegal
Botswana
Ghana
South Sudan
Burkina Faso
Zambia
Gambia
South Africa
Togo
Rwanda
Cote d'Ivoire
Madagascar
Central African Republic
Egypt
Uganda
Sierra Leone
Mali
Eritrea
Sao Tome and Principe
Chad
Zimbabwe
Comoros
Guinea-Bissau
Malawi
Algeria
Tanzania
Kenya
Benin
Angola
Niger
Ethiopia
Cameroon
Nigeria
SudanGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Trade Openness (% of GDP) figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=trade_openness_pct_gdp&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2025. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest trade as a share of GDP?
Djibouti has the highest trade as a share of GDP in Africa at 206.3% (2025), followed by Seychelles and Lesotho.
Which African country has the lowest trade as a share of GDP?
Sudan has the lowest trade as a share of GDP of the 52 African countries with data, at 2.4% (2025).
How many African countries report Trade Openness (% of GDP) data?
52 of 54 African countries have a Trade Openness (% of GDP) figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 1960–2025). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=trade_openness_pct_gdp&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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