Central Africa
How imports compared with GDP across Central Africa
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%.
Sources checked
2025
Shared scale · 0% to 76.46%
2015
Shared scale · 0% to 76.46%
Switch years to compare on the same scale. The table keeps the intermediate annual observations.
The two Congos converged through different paths
Between 2015 and 2025, the Republic of the Congo’s ratio went from 76.46% to 43.65%. DR Congo’s went from 31.75% to 43.92%, with a 48.55% reading in 2024. The ten-year movement was downward in one and upward in the other. Source 1
Gabon and the Central African Republic moved up in 2025
Gabon rose from 27.47% in 2024 to 29.40% in 2025. The Central African Republic went from 31.42% to 33.56% over the same period. Their 2015 figures were 27.92% and 36.08%, respectively. Source 1
Chad had the lowest ratio of the six in 2025
Chad recorded 16.72%, compared with 20.30% in Cameroon. In 2015, the two recorded 20.60% and 24.55%, respectively. Their order remained the same even as both ratios fell. Source 1
The ratio compares two different types of economic value
Imports measure cross-border purchases of goods and services. GDP measures production within the economy. The ratio can change because imports move, because nominal GDP changes or because both do. It cannot show the imported share of household consumption or how much of the import bill was for goods alone. Source 2