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Eritrea

State of Eritrea

Tigrinya, Arabic, English Eritrean Nakfa (ERN) Mixed: customary law, transitional civil law
AU, IGAD, AfCFTA

Eritrea is one of Africa's most closed economies with heavy state control and mandatory national service that limits private sector development. The mining sector, particularly the Bisha mine (gold, copper, zinc operated by Zijin Mining) and new potash projects, represents the primary source of foreign investment and export earnings. Agriculture (limited arable land) and fisheries along the Red Sea coast are other key sectors. The country has no independent central bank policy rate and limited financial sector. Business entry is extremely restricted for foreign entities, though the mining sector operates under specific concession agreements.

Snapshot

Population~3.6 MWorld Bank, 2025
GDP (current USD)$2.0 BIMF WEO
GDP per Capita$570IMF WEO
GDP Growth2.90%IMF WEO
Inflation (y/y)~4.50%Central Bank / IMF
Unemployment5.98%World Bank, ILO modelled estimate, 2025
Internet Use~14.35%World Bank, 2020
Electrification~53.00%World Bank WDI
CPI Score (Rank)22.0/100 (#160)Transparency Intl
HDI (Rank)0.492 (#176)UNDP HDR

World Bank Indicators Compare with another country

GDP (current USD)No value publishedWorld Bank, none for 2016 to 2025
GDP growth (annual)No value publishedWorld Bank, none for 2016 to 2025
GDP per capita (USD)No value publishedWorld Bank, none for 2016 to 2025
Population, total3.6 MWorld Bank, 2025
FDI net inflows (USD)-$27.9 MWorld Bank, 2024
Inflation (consumer prices)No value publishedWorld Bank, none for 2016 to 2025
Unemployment (% labour force)5.98%World Bank, 2025
Internet use (% of people)14.35%World Bank, 2020
Trade (% of GDP)No value publishedWorld Bank, none for 2016 to 2025

Climate Readiness Full ranking

37out of 100
Early-stage
Climate adaptation readiness for Eritrea, from 4 of 5 measured indicators. Not held: Economic readiness.
Energy access5353.0% · 30% weight
Governance readiness2222 / 100 CPI · 20% weight
Human readiness490.492 HDI · 20% weight
Economic readinessNot held15% weight
Digital readiness77.0% · 15% weight
This scores climate adaptation readiness (adaptive capacity), following the readiness dimension of the ND-GAIN framework. It is built only from measured values already held on this profile and normalised 0-100. It does not measure emissions or physical climate vulnerability: the platform does not yet hold emissions, hazard-exposure or natural-capital series. Energy access is the single most climate-specific indicator held; the other four are governance, economic, human-development and digital readiness proxies. The economic sub-score is relative to the African countries the platform covers.
How this is computed

Adaptive capacity to absorb climate finance and adapt, following the readiness dimension of the ND-GAIN framework. Built only from measured values already held on each country profile. It is not a measure of emissions or physical climate vulnerability, which the platform does not yet hold.

  • Energy access (30%) — World Bank, access to electricity (% of population). The single most climate and energy specific signal held: SDG 7 and the clean-energy transition.
  • Governance readiness (20%) — Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index (0-100). ND-GAIN governance readiness: the capacity to govern and deploy climate finance. Higher is cleaner.
  • Human readiness (20%) — UNDP, Human Development Index (0-1). ND-GAIN social readiness: the adaptive capacity of the population.
  • Economic readiness (15%) — World Bank, GDP per capita (current US$), latest measured year. ND-GAIN economic readiness: the capacity to finance adaptation. Scored relative to the covered set.
  • Digital readiness (15%) — World Bank, individuals using the Internet (% of population). Information systems for early warning and adaptation.

A country is scored only when at least 4 of the five indicators are held. Sub-scores are weighted and renormalised over the indicators that are present; nothing is estimated for one that is absent.

Country Facts

CapitalAsmara
RegionEast Africa
CurrencyEritrean Nakfa (ERN)
FX RegimeFixed peg
Legal SystemMixed: customary law, transitional civil law
Time ZoneAfrica/Asmara

Focus Sectors

Mining (gold
copper
zinc
potash)
Agriculture
Fisheries
Manufacturing
Port Services
Construction

Regulations & Taxes

Corporate Income Tax30% standard (mining: 38%)
VAT / Sales TaxNo VAT (sales tax 5-12%)