ECONDEX

Economic and development data for every country, explained with the numbers checked.

Eritrea

Sub-Saharan Africa. Low income. Capital: Asmara. Population 3,607,003 (2025).

Key trends

GDP growth (%)
−9.4 −0.3 8.9 1995 2011 8.7
Life expectancy at birth (years)
45.0 56.7 68.4 1995 2024 68.9

Indicators

Each country reports for different years, so check the year beside every figure. Rank 1 is the highest value among countries with recent data.

Economy

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
GDP growth% 8.7% 2011 * +9.6 pp −0.1 pp –
GDP per person growth% 6.7% 2011 * +9.3 pp +1.1 pp –
GNI per person (Atlas method)current US$ 650 2011 * +210 +330 –
Trade% of GDP 47.4% 2011 * +2.1 pp −24.7 pp –
Foreign direct investment, net inflows% of GDP 0.3% 2011 * +0.3 pp +2.1 pp –

Prices and jobs

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate)% of labour force 6.0% 2025 −0.4 pp +0.2 pp 77 of 186

People and health

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Populationpeople 3,607,003 2025 +315,732 +501,457 131 of 217
Population growth% annual 2.0% 2025 +0.4 pp +1.7 pp 50 of 217
Urban population% of total 34.5% 2025 −0.6 pp −1.1 pp 185 of 217
Life expectancy at birthyears 68.9 2024 +1.6 +3.4 162 of 217
Infant mortalityper 1,000 live births 24.7 2024 −4.0 −8.7 56 of 196
Health spending% of GDP 3.7% 2023 −0.6 pp −1.3 pp 164 of 193

Education

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Adult literacy rate% of people aged 15+ 64.7% 2008 * +12.2 pp – –
Government spending on education% of GDP 2.1% 2006 * −1.9 pp +0.5 pp –

Access and infrastructure

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Internet users% of population 14.3% 2020 * +13.3 pp +13.7 pp –
Access to electricity% of population 55.3% 2024 +5.0 pp +10.7 pp 193 of 215

Environment and energy

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Renewable energy% of final energy consumption 80.7% 2021 −0.7 pp +3.6 pp 15 of 212

* Latest figure is too old to be included in rankings or peer medians.

Advanced metrics

Indicator Own history Versus peers (latest) Growth and catch-up
10-yr meanZ-score Income group medianRegion medianVolatility (σ) 10-yr CAGR% of high-income median10 yrs earlier
GDP growth 1.0% +1.6 – – 4.8 – – –
GDP per person growth −1.7% +1.8 – – 4.8 – – –
GNI per person (Atlas method) 410 +2.8 – – 86 +7.3% 2% 2%
Trade 52.5% −0.3 – – 19.3 – – –
Foreign direct investment, net inflows −0.6% +0.8 – – 1.1 – – –
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate) 6.0% +0.1 4.4% 5.4% 0.3 – – –
Population 3,287,044 +2.1 24,074,580 14,957,094 150,352 +1.5% 123% 118%
Population growth 1.3% +1.2 2.6% 2.3% 0.5 – – –
Urban population 35.1% −1.6 34.5% 44.9% 0.4 – – –
Life expectancy at birth 66.9 +2.2 63.8 64.3 0.9 – – –
Infant mortality 29.2 −1.7 43.0 37.2 2.7 – – –
Health spending 4.3% −1.5 4.9% 4.4% 0.4 – – –
Government spending on education 3.7% −1.3 – – 1.3 – – –
Internet users 2.5% +3.5 – – 3.4 – – –
Access to electricity 49.8% +1.5 43.7% 57.8% 3.6 – – –
Renewable energy 80.2% +0.3 76.9% 70.6% 1.4 – – –

Compare Eritrea with other countries