➡️ Swipe to See the Five Smallest Economies in the World
What We’re Showing:
These maps plot the five smallest economies in the world by their estimated GDP in 2025.
Data is sourced from the International Monetary Fund and UN World Population Prospects.
❗This list only includes sovereign countries and may miss smaller economies due to data unavailability.
Size Matters
The world’s smallest economies are all islands or archipelagoes, located in remote areas with small resident populations.
Both these factors combine to limit opportunities for economic growth.
As a result, natural resources—in the form of agricultural products or fishing—are primary economic sectors, along with tourism.
Other Ways to Boost Economy
In the 2010s the Australian government paid Nauru hundreds of millions of dollars to hold asylum seekers in an offshore processing center.
Though the center has since closed, an abeyance fee is still paid.
Meanwhile, the Marshall Islands’ flexible tax laws make it a popular country for shipping companies to register and use it as a flag of convenience.