Central Africa
The World Bank series puts forest area at 91.4% of Gabon’s land area in 2024. The equivalent share was 72.5% in the Central African Republic and 61.5% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sources checked
The scale runs from zero to 100% of each country’s land area.
In the ILO’s estimates, agriculture’s share of employment fell by 22 percentage points in Cameroon between 2000 and 2025. The share in the Central African Republic was close to 66% in both years.
Chad’s estimated net migration went from about 29,451 more departures than arrivals in 2019 to 496,830 more arrivals than departures in 2023. Four of the other five countries still recorded negative net migration in 2023.
Cameroon’s estimate for at least basic drinking water rose from 55.8% of the population in 2000 to 71.4% in 2024. The Central African Republic moved from 59.0% to 36.5%.
The estimated number of births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 fell from 199.3 to 132.1 in Chad between 1990 and 2024. The rate in the Central African Republic changed from 165.1 to 161.3.
In the 2023 to 2024 survey of DR Congo, 55.4% of urban children under five had their births registered, compared with 24.3% in rural areas. Comparable survey breakdowns show similar gaps in Cameroon, Chad and the Central African Republic, with different survey years in each country.
Recorded attendance by skilled health staff rose from 12.2% of births in Chad’s 1997 observation to 47.2% in 2019. In Cameroon it rose from 55.0% in 1998 to 69.0% in 2018. Countries’ latest observations in this series come from different years.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s mined cobalt output reached 226,000 tonnes of cobalt content in 2024, up from 100,000 tonnes in 2020. Copper production grew too, with a shift toward solvent extraction in the final year.
The Central African Copperbelt spans southern Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Zambia. A USGS geological assessment mapped deposits on both sides of the border and recorded their estimated ore tonnage and average copper grades.
In 2024, estimated three-dose DPT coverage ranged from 42% in the Central African Republic to 78% in the Republic of the Congo. Chad reached 68%, up from 38% in 2000.
In 2022, estimated GDP per cubic metre of freshwater withdrawn was about USD 221.20 in the Republic of the Congo, USD 114.07 in Gabon and USD 76.92 in DR Congo, in constant 2015 prices.
In 2024, the Republic of the Congo recorded transmission and distribution losses equal to 51.31% of electricity output in the international series. Chad and Cameroon recorded about a quarter. The historical table shows how these ratios changed on different paths.
Gabon recorded 50.26 kilograms of fertilizer nutrients per hectare of arable land in 2024, the highest figure among six Central African countries. The Republic of the Congo reached 19.12 and Cameroon 16.30. The measure divides national fertilizer use by arable area.
Cameroon and Gabon had nearly identical fixed telephone subscription totals in 2024. Cameroon recorded 67,507 and Gabon 67,119. Gabon’s rate per 100 residents was more than eleven times Cameroon’s because their population denominators differed.
In 2023, fuels made up 85.86% of the Republic of the Congo’s reported merchandise exports, while ores and metals made up 76.34% of DR Congo’s. The two economies had sharply different export mixes.
Goods and services imports were equivalent to 43.92% of GDP in DR Congo in 2025, just above 43.65% in the Republic of the Congo. The two countries were much further apart in 2015, when the Republic of the Congo recorded 76.46%.
Gabon and Cameroon last reported gross pre-primary enrolment ratios above 35% in 2019 in this series. The other four countries’ latest observations were lower and came from different years. The records show both the gaps in reported enrolment and the gaps in reporting.
Hydropower supplied 99.61% of DR Congo’s reported generation in 2021 and 70.05% of Cameroon’s. In the Republic of the Congo, the share was 29.09%, down from 54.72% in 2010. The latest common comparison year is 2021.
In 2024, the FAO food production index was 154.0 in the Central African Republic, 142.3 in Chad and 122.3 in DR Congo. Each country’s own 2014 to 2016 average equals 100.
In the ILO modelled series, industry’s share of employment in Gabon rose from 10.73% in 2000 to 18.85% in 2025. In the Republic of the Congo it fell from 24.11% to 19.48%.
The World Bank’s $3.00-a-day series puts Cameroon’s 2021 poverty estimate at 26.7% and the Central African Republic’s at 71.6%. Some nearby countries have much older observations. The table dates every figure and pairs it with the available Gini index.
Gabon recorded 125.34 mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people in 2024, and Cameroon recorded 108.21. Both crossed the 100 threshold because a person or business can hold multiple subscriptions.
Electricity access reached an estimated 95.1% of the population in Gabon and 72.0% in Cameroon in 2024. In Chad and the Central African Republic, it was below one in five.
The World Bank estimated natural resource rents at 38.83% of GDP in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 37.71% in the Republic of the Congo in 2021. Gabon and Chad were below both, at 18.49% and 21.34%.
In 2023, out-of-pocket payments accounted for 67.65% of current health spending in Cameroon and 17.27% in Gabon. All six countries in the table had a lower share than in 2000.
Chad’s 2024 gross secondary enrolment ratio was 19.44% for girls and 27.44% for boys. Gabon’s 2019 observation ran the other way, with the female ratio above the male ratio. The newest observation year differs across Central Africa.
The World Bank’s 2022 Red List extract lists 888 threatened higher plant species in Cameroon and 468 in Gabon. DR Congo and Cameroon each recorded 48 threatened mammals. The counts reflect species assessments and their geographic ranges.
More than nine in ten people in Gabon lived in areas counted as urban in 2025, compared with fewer than three in ten in Chad. The six countries in this comparison span about 65 percentage points.
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