Economy of Timor-Leste

Economy of Timor-Leste
	Ministry of Finance building, Timor-Leste.;
Currency	US dollar (USD) and Timor-Leste centavos
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	ASEAN; G77;
Country group	Least Developed; Lower-middle income economy;
Statistics
GDP	$2.21 billion (nominal; 2026); $7.30 billion (PPP; 2026);
GDP rank	180th (nominal; 2026); 170th (PPP; 2026);
GDP growth	2.4% (2023); 4.1% (2024); 3.9% (2025); 3.3% (2026f);
GDP per capita	$1,547 (nominal; 2026); $5,112 (PPP; 2026);
GDP per capita rank	168th (nominal; 2026); 161th (PPP; 2026);
GDP by sector	agriculture: 9.1%; industry: 56.7%; services: 34.4%; (2017);
Inflation (CPI)	0.96% (2019 est.)
Population below poverty line	49.9% (2007 est.) 22.0% on less than $1.90/day (2014); 65.9% on less than $3.20/day (2014); 91.8% on less than $5.50/day (2014);
Gini coefficient	28.7 (2014 est.)
Human Development Index	0.634 medium (2023) (142th); 0.451 low IHDI (2019);
Labour force	581,000 (2022 est.)
Unemployment	1.79% (2022 est.)
Main industries	printing, soap manufacturing, handicrafts, woven cloth
External
Exports	$60 million (2020 est.)
Export goods	crude petroleum, natural gas, coffee, various vegetables, scrap iron
Main export partners	China 25.5%; Indonesia 20.4%; Japan 14.5%; South Korea 13.4%; Thailand 6.57% (2022);
Imports	$850 million (2020 est.)
Import goods	refined petroleum, cars, cement, delivery trucks, motorcycles
Main import partners	Indonesia 27.1%; China 23.2%; Singapore 8.97%; Australia 6.31% (2022);
Gross external debt	$232.4 million (2021); 15.63% GDP (2021);
Public finances
Foreign reserves	$279,000,000 (December 2013)
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Timor-Leste is a lower-middle income economy as ranked by the World Bank. It is placed 142th on the Human Development Index, indicating a medium level of human development. 20% of the population is unemployed, and 52.9% live on less than $1.25 a day. About half of the population is illiterate. At 27%, Timor-Leste's urbanisation rate is one of the lowest in the world.

In 2007, a bad harvest caused a "major food crisis" in Timor-Leste. By November, eleven sub-districts still needed food supplied by international aid.

According to data gathered in the 2010 census, 87.7% of urban and 18.9% of rural households have electricity, for an overall average of 36.7%.