World Bank: Gabon Economic Update 2025, building and preserving the country's wealth

The report, based on data available in May 2025, has two chapters: recent economic developments and outlook, followed by a special topic on measuring national wealth and the value of forest ecosystem services.

Recent developments

Growth is estimated at 2.9 percent in 2024, against 2.4 percent the previous year, driven by oil (output up about 4.6 percent) and public works. Inflation stood at 0.9 percent year on year in December 2024. According to World Bank estimates, 34.6 percent of Gabonese lived below the US$6.85 a day line in 2024. The trade surplus is estimated at 36.2 percent of GDP, and oil, manganese and timber make up 97 percent of foreign sales.

Public spending rose by about 24 percent, and the fiscal balance moved from a surplus of 1.8 percent of GDP in 2023 to an estimated deficit of 3.7 percent in 2024. Public debt is estimated at 72.5 percent of GDP in 2024, against 70.6 percent in 2023, above the 70 percent convergence criterion of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). Growth is projected at about 2.4 percent a year over 2025 to 2027.

Special topic: Gabon's wealth

Over 1995 to 2020 the stock of wealth gained 35 percent, to US$105 billion; it consists of natural capital (42 percent), human capital (31 percent) and physical capital (27 percent). Wealth per capita, however, fell by 34.7 percent over the period. Adjusted net savings were negative, at -3 percent, in 2020. Forest ecosystems delivered services worth CFAF 43.2 trillion in 2020, against CFAF 22.6 trillion in 2000, with carbon retention accounting for more than 99 percent.