Countries with Highest GDP Growth 2024

Economic growth is a marathon, not a sprint and while some nations have made plans for long-term progress, others have squandered their good fortune and resources.


You might have never heard of Nauru, a tiny island in the South Pacific Ocean, which for a few years during the past decade was the fastest-growing economy on Earth. The reason? Bird poop, specifically the island’s fossilized bird guano supply, an exceptional, and therefore expensive, natural fertilizer. Once the supply began drying up, Nauru’s gross domestic product surge virtually ceased. The island now survives economically due to the support it receives from Australia, which has built a detention center there for imprisoned asylum seekers. Such sudden injections of foreign funds can boost economic output dramatically—at least on paper—but the truth is that Nauru is facing financial ruin.

How Economic Growth Takes Place Is Critical

The story of this island is a cautionary tale about the perils of nations relying on just one source of income for their economic well-being instead of trying to develop a diversified economy. The people of another quite small nation, Guyana—215,000 square kilometers bordering Brazil, Suriname, Venezuela and the North Atlantic Ocean—could learn a thing or two from Nauru’s experience.

A few years ago—following one of the largest offshore crude discoveries in decades—Guyana became officially an oil producer. With output currently reaching approximately 650,000 barrels per day and growing, the windfall is already transforming the nation from one of the poorest per capita in Latin America into one of the richest. This year, excluding one-off rebounds from previous double-digit downturns (Macao or Maldives welcoming back tourists after Covid, for example), Guyana is set to maintain its status as the world’s fastest-expanding economy for the fifth year in a row, with a GDP growth rate of almost 34%.

Yet, experts have already warned of the so-called “resource curse,” meaning the mismanagement of revenue from oil extraction, which has historically been linked to slow economic growth, corruption, authoritarianism and a whole array of social maladies as the example of Venezuela demonstrates. To address these concerns, Guyana’s government has implemented a sovereign wealth fund and promised to invest all oil profits in the construction of roads, schools and hospitals. However, critics have argued that the guidelines and rules governing the fund are less than transparent, and have questioned whether these sudden riches will enrich just a few or lift many out of poverty. In the meantime, Guyana’s fishermen in the coastal area say that all the drilling and vibrations from oil exploration are ruining the marine environment, and that today their catches are a small fraction of what they used to be. Exploiting one of Guyana’s natural resources is damaging another.

Balanced Economic Development Is Key

While the jury is still out for Guyana, the experiences of Nauru or Venezuela tell us that single-year GDP figures can be misleading, since many once-fast-growing economies have experienced quick and dramatic downfalls, and because not everyone shares in all the benefits or downsides of an economy’s shifting fortunes.

At the other end of the spectrum, one can find the examples of Ethiopia, Rwanda, Mongolia, China, India, Bangladesh or Vietnam, which have shown sustained, robust GDP growth over many years among close to 200 nations routinely surveyed by the IMF.

Meaningful economic growth is a marathon, not a sprint. Amid bouts of ethnic violence and extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, over the past two decades Ethiopia has still managed to make improvements to its infrastructure and encourage greater private-sector involvement in an attempt to transform its agriculture-based economy into a manufacturing hub. Rwanda—with its extensive economic development and poverty reduction programs—shows what efficient and democratic political institutions can do to a country once ravaged by civil war and genocide: turn it into an economic miracle. Despite having encountered a few bumps along the road, China remains on track to pass the US as the world’s largest economy in the next decade. Meanwhile, Bangladesh, Vietnam and India—which is expected to surpass Germany and become the third-largest economy by 2027—have taken a page from China’s playbook by turning themselves into thriving manufacturing centers first and expanding to higher value-added sectors later.

It is not too hard to see which nations have made sustainable plans for the long haul and which ones bet their economic futures on a single commodity. It will be interesting to see how they all fare 10 years from now.

Country 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Five-Year Avg.
Guyana 43.48 20.06 62.288 32.963 33.895 38.5372
Macao SAR -54.34 23.535 -21.402 80.534 13.939 8.454
Palau -7.04 -13.362 -1.964 0.8 12.4 -1.8332
Niger 3.55 1.399 11.904 1.409 10.424 5.7372
Senegal 1.342 6.54 4 4.102 8.252 4.8472
Libya -29.46 28.335 -8.252 10.156 7.832 1.723
Rwanda -3.38 10.88 8.158 6.949 6.931 5.9076
India -5.778 9.69 6.987 7.827 6.808 5.1068
Mongolia -4.558 1.637 5.033 7.023 6.536 3.1342
Djibouti 1.316 4.522 3.876 6.989 6.513 4.6432
Côte d’Ivoire 0.701 7.062 6.862 6.2 6.5 5.465
Tajikistan 4.39 9.4 8 8.25 6.456 7.2992
Ethiopia 6.057 6.265 6.358 7.176 6.234 6.418
The Gambia 0.591 5.256 4.905 5.555 6.223 4.506
Philippines -9.518 5.715 7.57 5.568 6.163 3.0996
Antigua and Barbuda -17.5 6.556 8.459 5.863 6.077 1.8904
Benin 3.849 7.155 6.253 5.756 6.039 5.8104
Cambodia -3.556 3.09 5.103 4.998 6.032 3.1334
Armenia -7.151 5.684 12.604 8.714 6.011 5.1724
Vietnam 2.867 2.552 8.124 5.046 5.815 4.8808
Kiribati -0.562 8.523 3.905 4.154 5.761 4.3562
Georgia -6.291 10.644 10.96 7.474 5.74 5.7054
Bangladesh 3.448 6.939 7.1 6.025 5.7 5.8424
Uganda -1.142 5.486 6.3 4.766 5.631 4.2082
South Sudan -6.494 5.329 -5.186 -0.07 5.603 -0.1636
Tanzania 4.535 4.838 4.68 5.023 5.503 4.9158
Burkina Faso 1.922 6.938 1.78 3.561 5.464 3.933
Dominican Republic -6.72 12.272 4.858 2.409 5.352 3.6342
Samoa -3.108 -7.077 -5.308 7.99 5.35 -0.4306
St. Vincent and the Grenadines -3.739 0.754 5.5 6.23 5.3 2.809
Togo 1.976 5.991 5.811 5.4 5.3 4.8956
Liberia -2.967 5.011 4.811 4.583 5.277 3.343
Uzbekistan 1.996 7.403 5.673 5.989 5.198 5.2518
Maldives -32.91 37.687 13.907 4.424 5.17 5.6558
Mauritania -0.429 0.737 6.364 4.811 5.052 3.307
Malta -8.157 12.514 8.076 5.614 5.041 4.6176
Guinea-Bissau 1.5 6.4 4.2 4.2 5 4.26
Kenya -0.273 7.59 4.847 5.507 4.974 4.529
Mozambique -1.22 2.377 4.36 6.013 4.974 3.3008
Indonesia -2.066 3.703 5.307 5.048 4.964 3.3912
Mauritius -14.55 3.404 8.881 6.87 4.861 1.8938
Cabo Verde -20.81 5.615 17.117 4.792 4.742 2.2922
St. Kitts and Nevis -14.56 -0.891 8.823 3.45 4.731 0.3104
Zambia -2.785 6.235 5.25 4.33 4.715 3.549
Democratic Republic of the Congo 1.671 6.037 8.774 6.14 4.699 5.4642
China 2.242 8.45 2.989 5.24 4.642 4.7126
Dominica -16.61 6.892 5.648 4.726 4.589 1.05
Papua New Guinea -3.167 -0.78 5.165 2.681 4.52 1.6838
Madagascar -7.138 5.74 4 3.8 4.5 2.1804
Kyrgyz Republic -7.149 5.507 6.332 4.196 4.446 2.6664
Republic of Congo -6.268 1.057 1.75 4.033 4.432 1.0008
Malaysia -5.457 3.298 8.65 3.68 4.421 2.9184
Bhutan -2.455 -3.293 4.826 4.644 4.295 1.6034
Burundi 0.335 3.119 1.827 2.659 4.282 2.4444
Cameroon 0.539 3.649 3.595 3.969 4.253 3.201
Grenada -13.76 4.687 7.321 4.791 4.141 1.4366
Guinea 4.704 5.583 3.972 5.7 4.074 4.8066
Sierra Leone -1.969 4.105 3.458 3.392 4.005 2.5982
Mali -1.244 3.053 3.475 4.5 4 2.7568
Venezuela -30 1 8 4 4 -2.599
Costa Rica -4.273 7.936 4.551 5.112 3.999 3.465
Lao P.D.R. -0.435 2.061 2.252 3.697 3.969 2.3088
Algeria -5.017 3.805 3.616 4.184 3.848 2.0872
Kosovo -5.341 10.746 4.278 3.3 3.8 3.3566
Paraguay -0.82 4.017 0.176 4.477 3.8 2.33
Montenegro -15.31 13.043 6.407 6 3.742 2.777
Barbados -12.71 -1.324 13.8 4.4 3.7 1.5726
Somalia -2.56 3.308 2.433 2.8 3.7 1.9362
Uruguay -7.38 5.562 4.707 0.367 3.7 1.3912
Eswatini -1.56 10.683 0.476 5.133 3.699 3.6862
Honduras -8.965 12.534 3.998 3.5 3.6 2.9334
Botswana -8.726 11.867 5.782 3.245 3.574 3.1484
Bahrain -4.645 2.591 4.891 2.617 3.567 1.8042
United Arab Emirates -4.957 4.355 7.85 3.404 3.515 2.8334
Tuvalu -4.275 1.804 0.677 3.853 3.514 1.1146
Guatemala -1.792 8.002 4.118 3.474 3.5 3.4604
Nicaragua -1.766 10.347 3.751 4.686 3.5 4.1036
Timor-Leste -7.241 1.597 3.994 1.5 3.5 0.67
Comoros -0.196 2 2.603 2.996 3.491 2.1788
Serbia -0.903 7.726 2.55 2.528 3.465 3.0732
Belize -13.73 17.864 8.733 4.699 3.383 4.1896
Nigeria -1.794 3.647 3.252 2.86 3.338 2.2606
Islamic Republic of Iran 3.33 4.72 3.777 4.709 3.326 3.9724
Malawi 0.913 4.567 0.8 1.6 3.3 2.236
Seychelles -11.74 0.554 14.978 3.679 3.229 2.1398
Ukraine -3.753 3.446 -29.079 5.003 3.202 -4.2362
Zimbabwe -7.782 8.425 6.485 5.313 3.196 3.1274
Russia -2.654 5.988 -1.201 3.585 3.163 1.7762
Morocco -7.178 8.021 1.259 3.017 3.145 1.6528
Kazakhstan -2.6 4.1 3.299 5.101 3.109 2.6018
Nepal -2.37 4.838 5.613 0.832 3.104 2.4034
Türkiye 1.86 11.439 5.533 4.517 3.102 5.2902
Albania -3.302 8.909 4.844 3.297 3.08 3.3656
Taiwan 3.387 6.62 2.588 1.396 3.072 3.4126
Poland -2.02 6.935 5.26 0.16 3.068 2.6806
Fiji -17.04 -4.881 20.016 8.045 3.049 1.8378
Croatia -8.591 13.788 6.343 2.831 3 3.4742
El Salvador -7.901 11.904 2.799 3.498 3 2.66
Marshall Islands -2.846 1.112 -0.676 3 3 0.718
Vanuatu -4.992 -1.552 1.915 2.214 2.968 0.1106
Egypt 3.573 3.253 6.653 3.76 2.966 4.041
Suriname -15.98 -2.435 2.434 2.148 2.962 -2.1732
Chad -2.053 -0.914 3.075 4.369 2.912 1.4778
Gabon -1.815 1.468 3.037 2.266 2.902 1.5716
São Tomé and Principe 2.625 1.899 0.065 -0.3 2.9 1.4378
Hong Kong SAR -6.545 6.454 -3.681 3.215 2.879 0.4644
Ghana 0.514 5.076 3.078 2.259 2.779 2.7412
Romania -3.677 5.709 4.595 2.11 2.771 2.3016
Azerbaijan -4.199 5.616 4.577 1.1 2.764 1.9716
Bulgaria -3.966 7.662 3.926 1.846 2.737 2.441
United States -2.214 5.8 1.936 2.531 2.725 2.1556
North Macedonia -4.688 4.511 2.221 1.027 2.7 1.1542
Thailand -6.05 1.549 2.511 1.872 2.7 0.5164
Cyprus -3.443 9.91 5.059 2.46 2.689 3.335
Namibia -8.101 3.525 4.56 3.154 2.65 1.1576
Jordan -1.103 3.656 2.428 2.6 2.6 2.0362
Moldova -8.3 13.9 -4.982 1.032 2.6 0.85
Angola -5.638 1.199 3.045 0.47 2.558 0.3268
Saudi Arabia -3.582 5.075 7.486 -0.755 2.554 2.1556
Peru -10.87 13.418 2.684 -0.552 2.538 1.4438
Tonga 0.489 -2.667 -1.962 2.558 2.524 0.1884
Bosnia and Herzegovina -3.015 7.392 4.227 1.8 2.5 2.5808
Panama -17.67 15.836 10.809 7.317 2.5 3.7588
St. Lucia -23.59 11.315 15.674 3.023 2.442 1.7736
Belarus -0.673 2.439 -4.698 3.882 2.401 0.6702
Brunei Darussalam 1.134 -1.591 -1.628 1.407 2.385 0.3414
Lesotho -5.303 1.7 1.6 1.877 2.378 0.4504
Solomon Islands -3.383 2.564 2.403 2.95 2.372 1.3812
Mexico -8.625 5.739 3.949 3.229 2.367 1.3318
Trinidad and Tobago -9.078 -1.037 1.482 2.103 2.363 -0.8334
Korea -0.709 4.305 2.613 1.357 2.322 1.9776
The Bahamas -23.51 16.985 14.369 4.304 2.299 2.8898
Turkmenistan -2.116 -0.338 5.315 1.954 2.293 1.4216
Lithuania -0.025 6.285 2.44 -0.343 2.209 2.1132
Hungary -4.536 7.086 4.555 -0.908 2.203 1.68
Brazil -3.277 4.763 3.017 2.908 2.154 1.913
Denmark -2.423 6.845 2.731 1.813 2.13 2.2192
Singapore -3.87 9.691 3.838 1.075 2.1 2.5668
Slovak Republic -3.335 4.789 1.75 1.15 2.077 1.2862
Greece -9.316 8.38 5.557 2.011 2.038 1.734
Slovenia -4.241 8.229 2.461 1.587 2.01 2.0092
Pakistan -0.943 5.77 6.169 -0.166 2 2.566
Qatar -3.558 1.627 4.2 1.558 1.994 1.1642
Chile -6.143 11.334 2.059 0.219 1.983 1.8904
Spain -11.17 6.4 5.771 2.501 1.897 1.0808
Tunisia -8.592 4.605 2.603 0.425 1.878 0.1838
Andorra -11.18 8.287 9.565 2.275 1.8 2.1486
Jamaica -9.92 4.601 5.222 2.2 1.8 0.7806
Iceland -6.94 5.149 8.881 4.064 1.741 2.579
Portugal -8.301 5.737 6.828 2.28 1.732 1.6552
Latvia -3.514 6.732 2.955 -0.306 1.659 1.5052
Israel -1.465 9.344 6.47 2.003 1.609 3.5922
Bolivia -8.738 6.111 3.606 2.5 1.6 1.0158
Nauru 1.982 7.207 2.841 0.596 1.576 2.8404
Norway -1.278 3.909 3.006 0.514 1.525 1.5352
Myanmar -1.2 -10.486 -3.965 2.546 1.501 -2.3208
Ireland 6.617 15.125 9.433 -3.199 1.466 5.8884
Australia -2.129 5.554 3.811 2.063 1.461 2.152
Iraq -12.06 1.58 6.983 -2.176 1.377 -0.8582
Switzerland -2.272 5.397 2.666 0.764 1.341 1.5792
San Marino -6.812 14.228 5.037 2.304 1.3 3.2114
Central African Republic 0.959 0.983 0.472 0.727 1.269 0.882
Luxembourg -0.91 7.169 1.38 -1.095 1.262 1.5612
Oman -3.378 3.092 4.311 1.311 1.194 1.306
Belgium -5.261 6.851 3.01 1.461 1.158 1.4438
Canada -5.038 5.287 3.82 1.066 1.154 1.2578
Colombia -7.186 10.801 7.289 0.612 1.14 2.5312
Aruba -23.98 27.639 10.458 5.3 1.1 4.1028
Micronesia -1.87 3.013 -0.864 0.766 1.052 0.4194
New Zealand -1.37 5.628 2.384 0.633 1.047 1.6644
South Africa -5.963 4.703 1.91 0.602 0.879 0.4262
Japan -4.147 2.559 0.957 1.923 0.855 0.4294
France -7.54 6.321 2.526 0.869 0.744 0.584
Italy -8.974 8.31 3.986 0.921 0.709 0.9904
Czech Republic -5.503 3.553 2.328 -0.405 0.656 0.1258
Netherlands -3.885 6.192 4.326 0.093 0.632 1.4716
Equatorial Guinea -4.788 -0.377 3.246 -5.947 0.467 -1.4798
United Kingdom -10.36 8.675 4.345 0.145 0.46 0.653
Austria -6.633 4.238 4.806 -0.746 0.435 0.42
Finland -2.355 2.838 1.335 -0.957 0.422 0.2566
Sweden -2.17 6.147 2.663 -0.196 0.215 1.3318
Germany -3.829 3.169 1.804 -0.305 0.15 0.1978
Ecuador -9.245 9.818 6.186 2.284 0.081 1.8248
Puerto Rico -4.186 0.412 3.207 -0.7 -0.2 -0.2934
Estonia -0.965 7.249 -0.461 -3.006 -0.528 0.4578
Yemen -8.5 -1 1.5 -2 -1 -2.2
Kuwait -5.274 1.698 6.138 -2.231 -1.437 -0.2212
Argentina -9.9 10.718 4.956 -1.569 -2.764 0.2882
Haiti -3.343 -1.798 -1.682 -1.864 -3 -2.3374
Sudan -3.63 0.5 -2.5 -18.3 -4.201 -5.6262
Afghanistan -2.351 -14.542 -6.24 n/a n/a -7.711
Eritrea n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Lebanon -25.91 -10 n/a n/a -17.9535
Sri Lanka -4.625 3.512 -7.824 n/a n/a -2.979
Syria n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
West Bank and Gaza -11.32 7.012 4.083 -6.134 n/a -1.58925

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