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Indicator

Imports (% of GDP) by African country

2025

Imports of goods and services as a share of GDP.

Africa, 202544 of 54 countries
30.4%population-weighted average
Highest in 2025Lesotho · 104.5%Lowest in 2025Sudan · 1.3%Reported in 202544 of 54 countries surveyed
Click a country to pin it — pinned countries are named on the map. Hatching means no record.
Western Sahara — no separate recordTanzania — 20.0%Democratic Republic of the Congo — 43.9%Somalia — 98.8%Kenya — 21.8%Sudan — 1.3%Chad — 16.7%South Africa — 29.5%Lesotho — 104.5%Zimbabwe — no dataBotswana — 37.5%Namibia — 63.9%Senegal — 38.6%Mali — 26.7%Mauritania — 54.2%Benin — 20.1%Niger — 18.1%Nigeria — no dataCameroon — 20.3%Togo — no dataGhana — no dataCote d'Ivoire — 24.8%Guinea — 62.3%Guinea-Bissau — 27.0%Liberia — no dataSierra Leone — 28.2%Burkina Faso — 30.0%Central African Republic — 33.6%Republic of the Congo — 43.6%Gabon — 29.4%Equatorial Guinea — 28.4%Zambia — no dataMalawi — 28.8%Mozambique — 55.7%Eswatini — no dataAngola — 11.7%Burundi — no dataMadagascar — 32.9%Gambia — 49.4%Tunisia — 54.8%Algeria — 22.1%Eritrea — no dataMorocco — 51.1%Egypt — 31.5%Libya — 65.9%Ethiopia — 20.2%Djibouti — 95.8%Uganda — 28.8%Rwanda — 35.1%South Sudan — no dataNigeriaNigeriaEthiopia 20.2%Ethiopia 20.2%Kenya 21.8%Kenya 21.8%South Africa 29.5%South Africa 29.5%2025HIGHEST IN 2025Lesotho104.5%Somalia98.8%Djibouti95.8%Seychellesnot drawn92.7%Mauritiusnot drawn74.9%LOWEST IN 2025Sudan1.3%Angola11.7%Chad16.7%Niger18.1%Tanzania20.0%PINNEDEthiopia20.2%38 of 44Kenya21.8%36 of 44Nigeriano dataSouth Africa29.5%26 of 44OTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNCabo Verdenot drawn53.4%Comorosnot drawn31.6%Sao Tome and Principenot drawn33.3%% of GDP · quintiles of the observed range1.3%21.8%29.4%35.1%54.8%104.5%no record
20142025
World Bank · national statistics offices · the provider's own estimates where a country has not reportedCC BY 4.0
Countries

By region

Population-weighted, so a region’s figure is the share of its people, not the average of its countries.
Southern Africa4 of 5 countries33.7%
Middle Africa9 of 9 countries31.8%
Western Africa12 of 16 countries30.5%
Eastern Africa13 of 18 countries30.0%
Northern Africa6 of 6 countries28.9%
Africaall 54 countries · 44 with a 2025 figure30.4%

What to know before you quote this

Specific to this series. For how we treat data generally, see methods.
Ten countries have no usable 2025 recordNot a low value — no figure within the window. Burundi, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ghana, Liberia and 5 more are hatched on the map and blank in the table.
Certainty is judged year by yearA country can be Reported in one year and Modelled the next. The tag follows the year on the scrubber, so the 2025 assessment is not a verdict on the whole series.

About this data

Imports (% of GDP)Imports of goods and services as a share of GDP.
SourceWorld Bank, with processing by Africa API
Unit% of GDP
Last updated15 Oct 2026
Next expected updateOct 2027
Date range1960–2025
Coverage44 of 54 countries · 44 reported, 0 modelled, 10 with no usable figure

How the figure is made

ReportedA national statistics office or the original provider published the figure for that year directly. 44 countries did so for 2025 — the certainty shown on this page is that 2025 assessment, not a per-series one.ModelledNo direct figure that year. The provider’s own estimate, interpolation or projection stands in, and is marked as such wherever it appears.No dataNo usable figure within the window. Drawn hatched on the map and left blank in the table — not zero, and not filled in.

These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.

Reuse and cite

Everything on this page is open under CC BY 4.0 — use it anywhere, including commercially, as long as Africa API and the original provider are credited. The provider’s own licence still applies to their data.

How to cite this page
Africa API (2026) — "Imports (% of GDP)". Data adapted from World Bank. Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/imports-gdp-share
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=imports_goods_services_pct_gdp&year=2025&limit=100

Read next

The measures that explain this one.
TradeExports of Goods & ServicesExports of goods and services, in current US dollars.TradeImports of Goods & ServicesImports of goods and services, in current US dollars.TradeExport Diversification IndexUNCTAD index of how far a country's export mix differs from the world structure (lower is more diversified).

Imports (% of GDP): most recent figure per country, highest to lowest

49 countries · each with its own period

The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.

#CountryImports (% of GDP)Period
1Lesotho104.5%2025
2Somalia98.8%2025
3Djibouti95.8%2025
4Seychelles92.7%2025
5Mauritius74.9%2025
6Libya65.9%2025
7Namibia63.9%2025
8Guinea62.3%2025
9Mozambique55.7%2025
10Tunisia54.8%2025
11Mauritania54.2%2025
12Eswatini53.7%2024
13Cabo Verde53.4%2025
14Morocco51.1%2025
15Gambia49.4%2025
16Democratic Republic of the Congo43.9%2025
17Republic of the Congo43.6%2025
18Senegal38.6%2025
19Botswana37.5%2025
20Togo35.3%2023
21Rwanda35.1%2025
22Ghana33.9%2024
23Central African Republic33.6%2025
24Sao Tome and Principe33.3%2025
25Madagascar32.9%2025
26Comoros31.6%2025
27Egypt31.5%2025
28Burkina Faso30%2025
29South Africa29.5%2025
30Gabon29.4%2025
31Uganda28.8%2025
32Malawi28.8%2025
33Equatorial Guinea28.4%2025
34Sierra Leone28.2%2025
35Zambia27.6%2024
36Guinea-Bissau27%2025
37Mali26.7%2025
38Cote d'Ivoire24.8%2025
39Zimbabwe23.4%2024
40Algeria22.1%2025
41Kenya21.8%2025
42Cameroon20.3%2025
43Ethiopia20.2%2025
44Benin20.1%2025
45Tanzania20%2025
46Niger18.1%2025
47Chad16.7%2025
48Angola11.7%2025
49Sudan1.3%2025
Which observations are included?
The ranking includes 49 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each figure shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The ranking is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.

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