AFRICA · COUNTRY REFERENCE
Western Sahara
Written and compiled by American Business Capital Group Inc.
Selected country or entityMap: Natural Earth ↗
ANNUAL ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT
Population & economic scale
The most recent non-empty observations returned by the World Bank when this snapshot was collected. Read the year on each card: these are annual statistics, not live measurements.
No matching World Bank economy was found for Western Sahara. Figures from another country or a regional aggregate have not been substituted.
Population
Not available
people
No observation in this snapshot
Definition, value & source
Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wpp/, publisher: UN Population Division; Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), uri: https://unstats.un.org/home/nso_sites/, publisher: National Statistical Offices; Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, Eurostat (ESTAT), uri: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database?node_code=earn_ses_monthly, publisher: Eurostat; Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), United Nations (UN), uri: https://unstats.un.org, publisher: UN Statistics Division
GDP
Not available
current US$
No observation in this snapshot
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP per capita
Not available
current US$ per person
No observation in this snapshot
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. The core indicator has been divided by the general population to achieve a per capita estimate.This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP and GDP per capita use current US dollars, without an inflation or purchasing-power-parity adjustment. Source years can differ. Missing data is not zero; earlier archive figures below are retained as a separate historical reference.
THE REFERENCE FILE
Western Sahara at a glance
These are historical reference facts from the 2020 World Factbook archive. Each estimate keeps its own period; an archive edition does not make every figure a measurement from that year.
Government type
legal status of territory and issue of sovereignty unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro), which in February 1976 formally proclaimed a government-in-exile of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), near Tindouf, Algeria, led by President Mohamed ABDELAZIZ until his death in May 2016; current President Brahim GHALI elected in July 2016; territory partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976 when Spain withdrew, with Morocco acquiring northern two-thirds; Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979; Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter and has since asserted administrative control; the Polisario's government-in-exile was seated as an Organization of African Unity (OAU) member in 1984; Morocco between 1980 and 1987 built a fortified sand berm delineating the roughly 75% of Western Sahara west of the barrier that currently is controlled by Morocco; guerrilla activities continued sporadically until a UN-monitored cease-fire was implemented on 6 September 1991 (Security Council Resolution 690) by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)
Population
652,271 | note:estimate is based on projections by age, sex, fertility, mortality, and migration; fertility and mortality are based on data from neighboring countries
THE HISTORICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY
Explore the country in detail
Browse the economy, population, resources and infrastructure. These archived descriptions keep their original wording and dates; they have not been updated to describe current conditions.
6 of 6 sections
Location
Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco
archive edition 2020 · Archive source ↗
Economic overview
Western Sahara has a small market-based economy whose main industries are fishing, phosphate mining, tourism, and pastoral nomadism. The territory's arid desert climate makes sedentary agriculture difficult, and much of its food is imported. The Moroccan Government administers Western Sahara's economy and is a key source of employment, infrastructure development, and social spending in the territory.Western Sahara's unresolved legal status makes the exploitation of its natural resources a contentious issue between Morocco and the Polisario. Morocco and the EU in December 2013 finalized a four-year agreement allowing European vessels to fish off the coast of Morocco, including disputed waters off the coast of Western Sahara. As of April 2018, Moroccan and EU authorities were negotiating an amendment to renew the agreement.Oil has never been found in Western Sahara in commercially significant quantities, but Morocco and the Polisario have quarreled over rights to authorize and benefit from oil exploration in the territory. Western Sahara's main long-term economic challenge is the development of a more diverse set of industries capable of providing greater employment and income to the territory. However, following King MOHAMMED VI’s November 2015 visit to Western Sahara, the Government of Morocco announced a series of investments aimed at spurring economic activity in the region, while the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises announced a $609 million investment initiative in the region in March 2015.
2013, 2018, 2015 source periods; archive edition 2020 · Archive source ↗
Natural resources
phosphates, iron ore
archive edition 2020 · Archive source ↗
Industries
phosphate mining, handicrafts
archive edition 2020 · Archive source ↗
Exports - commodities
phosphates 62%(2012 est.)
2012 source periods; archive edition 2020 · Archive source ↗
Imports - commodities
fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
archive edition 2020 · Archive source ↗
CURRENCY OBSERVATIONS
Money & exchange rates
The latest verified daily references are separate from the historical country profile. Values are currency units per US$1.
Moroccan Dirham
MAD per US$1
Published reference snapshot; its original observation date is preserved.
1 MAD = US$0.1004339
9.362–9.9568 MAD per US$1 across the displayed observations. The vertical scale follows this range.
View dated observations
| Observation date | MAD per US$1 |
|---|---|
| Oct 6, 2026 | 9.9568 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | 9.9298 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | 9.8878 |
| Oct 3, 2026 | 9.8272 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 9.7954 |
| Oct 1, 2026 | 9.7299 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 9.6828 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | 9.6592 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | 9.6191 |
| Sep 27, 2026 | 9.6073 |
| Sep 26, 2026 | 9.6116 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 9.6131 |
| Sep 24, 2026 | 9.6131 |
| Sep 23, 2026 | 9.5812 |
| Sep 22, 2026 | 9.5415 |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 9.5178 |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 9.5071 |
| Sep 19, 2026 | 9.4967 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 9.4947 |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 9.483 |
| Sep 16, 2026 | 9.4664 |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 9.4771 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 9.4352 |
| Sep 13, 2026 | 9.3932 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 9.3828 |
| Sep 10, 2026 | 9.362 |
| Sep 9, 2026 | 9.3713 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | 9.393 |
| Sep 7, 2026 | 9.3662 |
Daily references are not live execution prices. A check time does not change a source observation date.
CAPITAL MARKETS
Stock exchanges
No venue from our curated stock exchange directory is listed for this entity.
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Official data & country reports
Research directories have their own coverage. A link is not a claim that every entity has an IMF report or a separate national statistical office.
SOURCES & DATES
Where the facts come from.
Editorial presentation by American Business Capital Group Inc. The organizations and archive links below are the underlying sources.
- Country reference
- CIA World Factbook · 2020 archive
- Archive retrieved
- Oct 6, 2026 · retrieval date, not an observation period
- Currency associations
- SIX / ISO 4217 currency registry ↗
- Rate observations
- Frankfurter / official reference providers ↗ · each observation is dated separately
- State classification
- UN member states ↗ · UN observer states ↗
- UN membership is shown separately from territory and currency coverage; inclusion is not a position on sovereignty or boundaries.
- CIA World Factbook text preserved by World Factbook Archive. Archive edition 2020; individual estimates retain their own dates. These are historical reference facts, not current observations.
- The available archive profile is from 2020. The UN lists Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
About the editions. The CIA announced the end of its online World Factbook on February 4, 2026. Our historical profiles retain the archive editions shown above.
Skyhorse lists The CIA World Factbook 2026–2027, published April 7, 2026 (ISBN 9781510786042). That book’s full text has not been incorporated here; its edition title does not redate the imported archive. Archive distribution license.
Geography is a simplified reference. Displayed boundaries and entity inclusion do not express a position on sovereignty or disputed borders.