As of April 2025, South Africa's GDP was estimated at over 410 billion U.S. dollars, the highest in Africa. Egypt followed, with a GDP worth around 347 billion U.S. dollars, and ranked as the second-highest on the continent. Algeria ranked third, with nearly 269 billion U.S. dollars. These African economies are among some of the fastest-growing economies worldwide. Dependency on oil For some African countries, the oil industry represents an enormous source of income. In Nigeria, oil generates over five percent of the country’s GDP in the third quarter of 2023. However, economies such as the Libyan, Algerian, or Angolan are even much more dependent on the oil sector. In Libya, for instance, oil rents account for over 40 percent of the GDP. Indeed, Libya is one of the economies most dependent on oil worldwide. Similarly, oil represents for some of Africa’s largest economies a substantial source of export value. The giants do not make the ranking Most of Africa’s largest economies do not appear in the leading ten African countries for GDP per capita. The GDP per capita is calculated by dividing a country’s GDP by its population. Therefore, a populated country with a low total GDP will have a low GDP per capita, while a small rich nation has a high GDP per capita. For instance, South Africa has Africa’s highest GDP, but also counts the sixth-largest population, so wealth has to be divided into its big population. The GDP per capita also indicates how a country’s wealth reaches each of its citizens. In Africa, Seychelles has the greatest GDP per capita.

Algeria is the biggest country in Africa, with an area exceeding 2.38 million square kilometers as of 2020. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan follow with a total area of around 2.34 million and 1.88 million square kilometers, respectively. On the other hand, Seychelles is the smallest country on the continent, with an area of only 460 square kilometers. Overall, Africa’s total area exceeds 30 million square kilometers, being the second largest continent in the world after Asia. Nigeria and Ethiopia lead the ranking of the most populated countries in Africa.

How have the African countries been formed?

The political geography of Africa has been influenced by its colonial history. Between the 19th and 20th Century, the European colonizers have divided up Africa. The partition of the territories was merely driven by strategic purposes: Borders between countries were artificially created in the absence of a geographic border. Following the decolonization, most countries gained their independence in the second half of the 1900s. The newest country in Africa is South Sudan, which became independent in 2011.

Africa's physical geography

Geographically, the African continent is mostly constituted by plains and tablelands. Inner plateaus are prevalent in the sub-Saharan region. In the center-north, the arid Sahara Desert extends for around nine million square kilometers, being the largest subtropical desert in the world. The continent also has some of the biggest water basins worldwide, namely the Nile, Congo, and Niger rivers. East Africa has, instead, the highest summit on the continent, the Kilimanjaro. Peaking at 5,895 meters, the mountain dominates Tanzania’s landscape and attracts thousands of climbers each year.

This dataset provides values for GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

As of 2023, Egypt was considered the best country in Africa based on its performance in key attributes, namely adventure, agility, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power, social purpose, and quality of life. The country ranked as the 34th best country in the world. In terms of heritage, which measures how a country is culturally accessible, has a rich history, great food, and many cultural and geographical attractions, Egypt was the ******* best country in the world. Furthermore, Morocco and South Africa were the second and third best African countries, placing 40th th and 46th in the global ranking.

This dataset provides values for GDP PER CAPITA PPP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

This horizontal bar chart displays countries by country using the aggregation count in Southern Africa. The data is about countries.

This horizontal bar chart displays countries by country using the aggregation count in Africa. The data is about countries.

Seychelles had the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in Africa as of 2024. The value amounted to 21,630 U.S. dollars. Mauritius followed with around 12,330 U.S. dollars, whereas Gabon registered 8,840 U.S. dollars. GDP per capita is calculated by dividing a country’s GDP by its population, meaning that some of the largest economies are not ranked within the leading ten. Impact of COVID-19 on North Africa’s GDP When looking at the GDP growth rate in Africa in 2024, Libya had the largest estimated growth in Northern Africa, a value of 7.8 percent compared to the previous year. Niger and Senegal were at the top of the list with rates of 10.4 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the economy was severe. The growth of the North African real GDP was estimated at minus 1.1 percent in 2020. However, estimations for 2022 looked much brighter, as it was set that the region would see a GDP growth of six percent, compared to four percent in 2021.
Contribution of Tourism Various countries in Africa are dependent on tourism, contributing to the economy. In 2023, travel and tourism were estimated to contribute 182.6 billion U.S. dollars, a clear increase from 96.5 in 2020 following COVID-19. As of 2024, South Africa, Mauritius, and Egypt led tourism in the continent according to the Travel & Tourism Development Index.

The average for 2024 based on 53 countries was 6.61 index points. The highest value was in Libya: 9.4 index points and the lowest value was in Cape Verde: 2 index points. The indicator is available from 2007 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This dataset provides values for CORRUPTION RANK reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

The average for 2024 based on 52 countries was 6829 U.S. dollars. The highest value was in the Seychelles: 29242 U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in Burundi: 836 U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2024 based on 46 countries was 2323.02 U.S. dollars. The highest value was in the Seychelles: 16586.41 U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in Burundi: 255.6 U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This horizontal bar chart displays GDP (current US$) by continent using the aggregation sum in Africa. The data is about countries.

The average for 2023 based on 40 countries was 8.3 billion U.S. dollars. The highest value was in Egypt: 59 billion U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in the Gambia: 0.04 billion U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This horizontal bar chart displays access to electricity (% of population) by country using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Africa. The data is about countries.

The average for 2023 based on 48 countries was 163437 refugees. The highest value was in Uganda: 1577498 refugees and the lowest value was in Mauritius: 5 refugees. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This horizontal bar chart displays population (people) by country full name using the aggregation sum in Western Africa. The data is about countries.

Top five largest countries of Africa by land size are Algeria, Congo Democratic Republic of the, Sudan, Libya and Chad but the top five largest populations in Africa are in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.

This horizontal bar chart displays incidence of HIV (per 1,000 uninfected population) by country using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Africa. The data is about countries.

This horizontal bar chart displays GDP (current US$) by countries using the aggregation sum in Middle Africa. The data is about countries.