AFRICA · COUNTRY REFERENCE
Eritrea
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.
World Bank reporting entity: Eritrea · 3 of 3 indicators available.
Population
3,607,003
people
observation
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.
Received value: 3607003 people. The main card rounds for readability.
- 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
$2.07 billion
current US$
observation · older available record
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.
Received value: 2065001626.01626 current US$. The main card rounds for readability.
- 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
$689
current US$ per person
observation · older available record
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.
Received value: 688.68165957684 current US$ per person. The main card rounds for readability.
- 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
Eritrea at a glance
These are historical reference facts from the 2025 World Factbook archive. Each estimate keeps its own period; an archive edition does not make every figure a measurement from that year.
Population
total: 6,416,435 (2025 est.) male: 3,158,281 female: 3,258,154
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$2.534 billion (2024 est.) $2.465 billion (2023 est.) $2.398 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2015 dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)
$2.535 billion (2024 est.) note: data in current dollars at official exchange rate
Real GDP growth rate
5% (2017 est.) 1.9% (2016 est.) 2.6% (2015 est.)
Real GDP per capita
$700 (2024 est.) $700 (2023 est.) $700 (2022 est.) note: data in 2015 dollars
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
7.4% (2022 est.) 6.6% (2021 est.) 5.6% (2020 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Unemployment rate
5.6% (2024 est.) 5.6% (2023 est.) 5.7% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment
Labor force
1.71 million (2024 est.) note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work
Budget
revenues: $633 million (2018 est.) expenditures: $549 million (2018 est.)
Exports
$624.3 million (2017 est.) $485.4 million (2016 est.) $374.898 million (2011 est.)
Imports
$494.229 million (2010 est.) $435.275 million (2009 est.)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$191.694 million (2019 est.) $163.034 million (2018 est.) $143.412 million (2017 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
Debt - external
$461.376 million (2023 est.) note: present value of external debt in current US dollars
Electricity access
electrification - total population: 55.4% (2022 est.) electrification - urban areas: 75.5% electrification - rural areas: 36%
Internet users
percent of population: 20% (2023 est.)
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.
28 of 28 sections
Location
Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Capital
name: Asmara geographic coordinates: 15 20 N, 38 56 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) etymology: the name's origin is unclear; according to Tigrinya oral tradition, the name is part of a phrase meaning "the women made them unite," referring to a group of women who made four clans unite to defeat a common enemy; asmara also means "flowery wood" in the Tigrinya language
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Economic overview
largely agrarian economy with a significant mining sector; substantial fiscal surplus due to tight controls; high and vulnerable debts; increased Ethiopian trade and shared port usage decreasing prices; financial and economic data integrity challenges
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural resources
gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Agricultural products
sorghum, milk, barley, vegetables, root vegetables, cereals, pulses, wheat, beef, maize (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Industries
food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles, light manufacturing, salt, cement
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - partners
China 67%, UAE 26%, Philippines 5%, Italy 1%, Croatia 1% (2023) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - commodities
copper ore, zinc ore, gold, garments, liquor (2023) note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - partners
China 32%, UAE 27%, Turkey 9%, USA 7%, Italy 5% (2023) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - commodities
trucks, sorghum, construction vehicles, wheat flours, other foods (2023) note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Climate
hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually, heaviest June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Terrain
dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south trending highlands, descending on the east to a coastal desert plain, on the northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling plains
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Land use
agricultural land: 62.7% (2023 est.) arable land: 5.7% (2023 est.) permanent crops: 0% (2023 est.) permanent pasture: 56.9% (2023 est.) forest: 12% (2023 est.) other: 25.3% (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural hazards
frequent droughts, rare earthquakes and volcanoes; locust swarms volcanism: Dubbi (1,625 m), which last erupted in 1861, was the country's only historically active volcano until Nabro (2,218 m) came to life in 2011
2011 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Languages
Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Religions
Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, Sunni Muslim
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Age structure
0-14 years: 35.7% (male 1,138,382/female 1,123,925) 15-64 years: 60.3% (male 1,882,547/female 1,944,266) 65 years and over: 4% (2024 est.) (male 101,504/female 153,332)
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Urbanization
urban population: 43.3% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 3.67% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
2023, 2020 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 67.5 years (2024 est.) male: 64.9 years female: 70.2 years
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Electricity
installed generating capacity: 243,000 kW (2023 est.) consumption: 388.987 million kWh (2023 est.) transmission/distribution losses: 51.528 million kWh (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Electricity generation sources
fossil fuels: 89.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) solar: 10.7% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) wind: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Petroleum
refined petroleum consumption: 5,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Carbon dioxide emissions
733,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.) from petroleum and other liquids: 733,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Telephones - mobile cellular
total subscriptions: 2.02 million (2022 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 59 (2022 est.)
2022 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Broadband - fixed subscriptions
total: 6,000 (2022 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2022 est.) less than 1
2022 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Airports
11 (2025)
2025 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Railways
total: 306 km (2018) narrow gauge: 306 km (2018) 0.950-m gauge
2018 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Ports
total ports: 2 (2024) large: 0 medium: 0 small: 2 very small: 0 ports with oil terminals: 2 key ports: Assab, Mitsiwa Harbor
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · 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.
Nakfa
ERN per US$1
Published reference snapshot; its original observation date is preserved.
1 ERN = US$0.06567196
15.1718–15.2422 ERN per US$1 across the displayed observations. The vertical scale follows this range.
View dated observations
| Observation date | ERN per US$1 |
|---|---|
| Oct 6, 2026 | 15.2272 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | 15.2422 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | 15.2281 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 15.2282 |
| Oct 1, 2026 | 15.2126 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 15.1718 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | 15.2262 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | 15.2219 |
| Sep 27, 2026 | 15.2122 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 15.2056 |
| Sep 24, 2026 | 15.2274 |
| Sep 23, 2026 | 15.1754 |
| Sep 22, 2026 | 15.2252 |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 15.2237 |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 15.228 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 15.2282 |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 15.2325 |
| Sep 16, 2026 | 15.1802 |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 15.2359 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 15.2369 |
| Sep 13, 2026 | 15.2094 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 15.2013 |
| Sep 10, 2026 | 15.1791 |
| Sep 9, 2026 | 15.1802 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | 15.2026 |
| Sep 7, 2026 | 15.184 |
Daily references are not live execution prices. A check time does not change a source observation date.
CAPITAL MARKETS
Stock exchanges
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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 · 2025 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 2025; individual estimates retain their own dates. These are historical reference facts, not current observations.
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.