The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU's future goals include a customs union, a single market, a central bank, and a common currency, thereby establishing an economic and monetary union.
This morning I was talking to Rob, a friend from South Africa, we were talking economics, Georgia, and railways and suddenly I remembered a few years ago I did an article about GDP per Capita in the African Union in 2013.
As many years had passed already, since I originally published that article, I decided to look again at the developments around African Union and compare the data from 2013 to 2022.
Huge was my surprise seeing that most of the countries have actually shrank by their size of GPD, not growing.
Without further ado, here is the raw data:
GDP per Capita in African Union 2022 vs 2013
| Country | 2022* | 2013 | Growth ($) | Percentage % |
| Seychelles | $11,425.09 | $14,220.00 | -$2,794.91 | -19.65% |
| Mauritius | $8,622.68 | $9,210.00 | -$587.32 | -6.38% |
| Equatorial Guinea | $7,143.24 | $20,572.00 | -$13,428.76 | -65.28% |
| Gabon | $7,005.88 | $11,571.00 | -$4,565.12 | -39.45% |
| Botswana | $6,710.99 | $7,317.00 | -$606.01 | -8.28% |
| South Africa | $5,090.72 | $6,618.00 | -$1,527.28 | -23.08% |
| Namibia | $4,211.05 | $5,492.00 | -$1,280.95 | -23.32% |
| Libya | $3,699.23 | $12,167.00 | -$8,467.77 | -69.60% |
| Egypt | $3,547.87 | $3,314.00 | $233.87 | 7.06% |
| Djibouti | $3,425.50 | $1,668.00 | $1,757.50 | 105.37% |
| Swaziland | $3,415.46 | $3,034.00 | $381.46 | 12.57% |
| Tunisia | $3,319.82 | $4,329.00 | -$1,009.18 | -23.31% |
| Algeria | $3,310.39 | $5,361.00 | -$2,050.61 | -38.25% |
| Cabo Verde | $3,064.27 | $3,785.00 | -$720.73 | -19.04% |
| Morocco | $3,009.25 | $3,109.00 | -$99.75 | -3.21% |
| Sahrawi Republic (Western Sahara) | $2,500.00 | n/a | ||
| Ghana | $2,328.53 | $1,850.00 | $478.53 | 25.87% |
| Côte d'Ivoire | $2,325.72 | $1,521.00 | $804.72 | 52.91% |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | $2,157.84 | $1,610.00 | $547.84 | 34.03% |
| Nigeria | $2,097.09 | $3,010.00 | -$912.91 | -30.33% |
| Republic of the Congo | $1,972.55 | $3,172.00 | -$1,199.45 | -37.81% |
| Angola | $1,895.77 | $5,668.00 | -$3,772.23 | -66.55% |
| Kenya | $1,838.21 | $994.00 | $844.21 | 84.93% |
| Mauritania | $1,672.92 | $1,070.00 | $602.92 | 56.35% |
| Cameroon | $1,499.37 | $1,315.00 | $184.37 | 14.02% |
| Senegal | $1,487.76 | $1,072.00 | $415.76 | 38.78% |
| Comoros | $1,402.60 | $894.00 | $508.60 | 56.89% |
| Benin | $1,291.04 | $805.00 | $486.04 | 60.38% |
| Guinea | $1,194.04 | $527.00 | $667.04 | 126.57% |
| Zimbabwe | $1,128.21 | $905.00 | $223.21 | 24.66% |
| South Sudan | $1,119.65 | $1,221.00 | -$101.35 | -8.30% |
| Tanzania | $1,076.47 | $695.00 | $381.47 | 54.89% |
| Zambia | $1,050.92 | $1,540.00 | -$489.08 | -31.76% |
| Ethiopia | $936.34 | $498.00 | $438.34 | 88.02% |
| Togo | $914.95 | $636.00 | $278.95 | 43.86% |
| Lesotho | $861.01 | $1,075.00 | -$213.99 | -19.91% |
| Mali | $858.92 | $715.00 | $143.92 | 20.13% |
| Burkina Faso | $830.93 | $684.00 | $146.93 | 21.48% |
| Uganda | $817.04 | $572.00 | $245.04 | 42.84% |
| Rwanda | $797.86 | $633.00 | $164.86 | 26.04% |
| Gambia | $787.01 | $494.00 | $293.01 | 59.31% |
| Guinea-Bissau | $727.52 | $504.00 | $223.52 | 44.35% |
| Eritrea | $642.51 | $544.00 | $98.51 | 18.11% |
| Malawi | $625.29 | $226.00 | $399.29 | 176.68% |
| Chad | $614.47 | $1,046.00 | -$431.53 | -41.26% |
| Sudan | $595.47 | $1,753.00 | -$1,157.53 | -66.03% |
| Liberia | $583.27 | $454.00 | $129.27 | 28.47% |
| Niger | $565.06 | $413.00 | $152.06 | 36.82% |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | $556.81 | $454.00 | $102.81 | 22.65% |
| Madagascar | $495.49 | $471.00 | $24.49 | 5.20% |
| Sierra Leone | $484.52 | $809.00 | -$324.48 | -40.11% |
| Central African Republic | $476.85 | $333.00 | $143.85 | 43.20% |
| Mozambique | $448.61 | $593.00 | -$144.39 | -24.35% |
| Somalia | $309.42 | n/a | ||
| Burundi | $274.01 | $267.00 | $7.01 | 2.63% |
| Average | $2,204.43 | $2,778.36 | -$573.94 | -20.66% |
Data source: World Bank
Here are some of my key findings:
- The average GDP per capita in African Union is $2,200 and is actually 20% lower than it was back in 2013.
- The highest GDP per capita was observed in Seychelles, while the lowest in Burundi
As a person not actively following the development in the African continent I was surprised to see the drop, as I was convinced that the World GDP rates have only gone up. Turns out, they are not.
It seems it will take many more decades for African Union, to reach those levels of the European Union, also it will require developing countries not to rely on mineral resource mining, but develop new higher added value products.
What are your thought? Leave me a comment, readers and I would love to hear!
*The GDP prices are from 2020, which was not the best for the Worlds economy, but still as the latest data available when publishing this article in June 2022