ECONDEX

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

South Sudan

Sub-Saharan Africa. Low income. Capital: Juba. Population 12,188,788 (2025).

Key trends

GDP growth (%)
−44.9 −16.5 11.9 2009 2015 −10.8
Inflation, consumer prices (% annual)
1.0 186.7 372.3 2009 2024 91.4
Life expectancy at birth (years)
19.8 38.7 57.5 1995 2024 57.7

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% −10.8% 2015 * −16.3 pp – –
GDP per person growth% −9.8% 2015 * −9.8 pp – –
GNI per person (Atlas method)current US$ 1,050 2015 * +280 – –
Trade% of GDP 65.6% 2015 * −25.4 pp – –
Foreign direct investment, net inflows% of GDP 0.0% 2015 * −1.3 pp – –

Prices and jobs

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Inflation, consumer prices% annual 91.4% 2024 +4.2 pp +89.8 pp 4 of 180
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate)% of labour force 12.4% 2023 −0.5 pp −0.3 pp 23 of 186

People and health

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Populationpeople 12,188,788 2025 +1,490,321 +1,081,227 80 of 217
Population growth% annual 2.0% 2025 −0.6 pp +3.2 pp 48 of 217
Urban population% of total 21.7% 2025 +1.5 pp +2.9 pp 210 of 217
Life expectancy at birthyears 57.7 2024 −0.4 +12.1 214 of 217
Infant mortalityper 1,000 live births 71.9 2024 0.0 −46.3 1 of 196
Health spending% of GDP 11.6% 2023 −0.1 pp – 12 of 193

Education

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Adult literacy rate% of people aged 15+ 26.8% 2008 * – – –
Government spending on education% of GDP 1.6% 2016 * +0.6 pp – –

Access and infrastructure

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Internet users% of population 6.7% 2019 * +4.1 pp – –
Access to electricity% of population 5.4% 2024 −1.4 pp +1.1 pp 215 of 215

Inequality and poverty

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Gini index (inequality)index, 0 to 100 44.0 2016 * −2.3 – –
Poverty headcount ratio% of population, at the World Bank international poverty line 76.5% 2016 * +31.6 pp – –

Environment and energy

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Renewable energy% of final energy consumption 32.4% 2021 +3.7 pp +1.8 pp 76 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 −3.9% −0.3 – – 21.4 – – –
GDP per person growth −7.7% −0.1 – – 20.8 – – –
GNI per person (Atlas method) – – – – – – 4% –
Trade 80.5% −0.8 – – 18.1 – – –
Inflation, consumer prices 82.9% +0.1 5.9% 3.5% 119.9 – – –
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate) 13.0% −1.0 4.4% 5.4% 0.6 – – –
Population 10,875,538 +2.4 24,074,580 14,957,094 554,686 +0.9% 416% 423%
Population growth 0.6% +0.5 2.6% 2.3% 3.1 – – –
Urban population 20.1% +1.9 34.5% 44.9% 0.9 – – –
Life expectancy at birth 49.7 +0.9 63.8 64.3 9.4 – – –
Infant mortality 107.3 −0.8 43.0 37.2 44.6 – – –
Health spending 10.9% +0.1 4.9% 4.4% 5.9 – – –
Government spending on education 1.2% +1.4 – – 0.3 – – –
Internet users 3.1% +3.2 – – 1.1 – – –
Access to electricity 6.1% −0.4 43.7% 57.8% 1.5 – – –
Renewable energy 30.8% +0.7 76.9% 70.6% 2.3 – – –

Compare South Sudan with other countries