OTHER TERRITORIES · COUNTRY REFERENCE
British Indian Ocean Territory
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 British Indian Ocean Territory. 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
British Indian Ocean Territory 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: no permanent inhabitants note: Diego Garcia, the largest of the 58 islands, hosts a joint UK-US military facility
Area
total : 60 sq km land: 60 sq km (44 Diego Garcia) water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands
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.
14 of 14 sections
Location
archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about halfway between Africa and Indonesia
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Capital
name: administered from London; often regarded as being on Diego Garcia geographic coordinates: 7 18S, 12 24E time difference: UTC+6 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Economic overview
small island territory economy; economic activity mainly on Diego Garcia with national military installations; recently settled disputes with Mauritius have increased oil exports; established marine reserve has limited commercial fishing
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural resources
coconuts, fish, sugarcane
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - partners
Singapore 86%, Pakistan 8%, USA 1%, South Africa 1%, Czechia 1% (2023) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - commodities
fish (2023) note: top export commodities based on value in dollars over $500,000
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - partners
Greece 52%, Singapore 38%, USA 4%, Panama 2%, UAE 2% (2023) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - commodities
refined petroleum, animal products, aluminum structures, insulated wire, prefabricated buildings (2023) note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Climate
tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Terrain
flat and low coral atolls (most areas do not exceed 2 m, or 6.6 ft, in elevation); sits atop the submarine volcanic Chagos-Laccadive Ridge
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Land use
agricultural land: 0% (2018 est.) arable land: 0% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 0% (2018 est.) forest: 0% (2018 est.) other: 100% (2018 est.)
2018 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural hazards
none; located outside routes of Indian Ocean cyclones
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Airports
1 (2025)
2025 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Ports
total ports: 1 (2024) large: 0 medium: 0 small: 0 very small: 1 ports with oil terminals: 1 key ports: Diego Garcia
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.
US Dollar
USD per US$1
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.
Browse the worldwide directory →Exchange directory coverage is curated and does not establish that an entity has no other trading venues.
CONTINUE YOUR RESEARCH
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.