Economy of Senegal

Economy of Senegal
	Dakar, Senegal's place de l'Indépendance: a center of government, banking and trade. In the background is the commercial port and the tourist area, Gorée island.
Currency	West African CFA franc (XOF)
Fixed exchange rates	1 EUR = 655.957 XOF
Trade organisations	AU, AfCFTA, ECOWAS, CEN-SAD, WTO
Country group	Least developed; Lower-middle income economy;
Statistics
Population	18,384,660 (2023)
GDP	$34.73 billion (nominal; 2025); $105.43 billion (PPP; 2025);
GDP rank	106th (nominal; 2025); 101th (PPP; 2025);
GDP growth	4.3% (2023); 6.7% (2024); 8.4% (2025); 4.1% (2026f);
GDP per capita	$1,810 (nominal; 2025); $5,500 (PPP; 2025);
GDP per capita rank	154th (nominal; 2025); 150th (PPP; 2025);
GDP by sector	Agriculture: 15.5%; Industry: 25.4%; Services: 49.1%; (2024 est.);
Inflation (CPI)	2.0% (2025)
Population below poverty line	46.7% (2011 est.); 67.5% on less than $3.20/day (2011);
Gini coefficient	38.1 medium (2018, World Bank)
Human Development Index	0.530 low (2023) (169th); 0.340 low IHDI (2023);
Corruption Perceptions Index	45 out of 100 points (2024, 69th rank
Labour force	5,257,332 (2023); 42.4% employment rate (2015);
Labour force by occupation	agriculture: 77.5%; industry: 22.5%; industry and services: 22.5%; (2007 est.);
Unemployment	15,7% (2017)
Main industries	agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, zircon, and gold mining, construction materials, ship construction and repair
External
Exports	$8.1 billion (2024)
Export goods	gold, refined petroleum, phosphoric acid, fish, cement (2023)
Main export partners	Mali 21%; India 12%; Switzerland 11%; China 5%; United Arab Emirates 4%; (2023);
Imports	$14.25 billion (2024)
Import goods	refined petroleum, crude petroleum, rice, garments, wheat (2023)
Main import partners	China 19%; France 9%; Nigeria 7%; India 7%; Russia 5%; (2023);
Current account	-$6.07 billion ( 19.8% of GDP) (2023)
Gross external debt	$8.571 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Public finances
Government debt	48.3% of GDP (2017 est.)
Foreign reserves	$1.827 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Budget balance	−3.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Revenues	$7.749 billion (2023 est.)
Expenses	9.267 billion (2023 est.)
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Senegal is driven by mining, construction, tourism, fishing and agriculture, which are the main sources of employment in rural areas. Natural resources include iron, zircon, gold, phosphates, and now oil and gas. In the past Senegal's economy gained most of its foreign exchange from fish, phosphates, groundnuts, tourism. One of the historically dominant parts of the economy, agricultural, is highly vulnerable to environmental conditions such as variations in rainfall and climate, and fluctuations in world commodity prices. It is a member of the World Trade Organization.

The capital of Senegal, Dakar, was the former capital of all of French West Africa. As a result, it remains the home to major banks and other institutions which serve all of Francophonic West Africa and is the hub for shipping and transport into and out of the entire region, which benefits landlocked neighboring Mali.

Senegal has one of the most developed tourist industries in Africa.

The main obstacles to the economic development of the country are its great corruption with inefficient justice, very slow administrative formalities, and a failing education sector.