São Tomé and Principe: GDP (annual % growth)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, São Tomé and Principe's GDP (annual % growth) fell 0.45 percentage points on 2024 (from 1.48% to 1.03%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.38 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 21.78 percentage points in 1977 and the biggest yearly fall was 20.52 percentage points in 1978. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.5 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 76% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, São Tomé and Principe had the 158th highest value of the 186 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to São Tomé and Principe in the 2025 ranking

• Norway — 155th of 186: 1.09%
• Micronesia, Fed. Sts. — 156th of 186: 1.06%
• Slovenia — 157th of 186: 1.06%
• Korea, Rep. — 159th of 186: 1.01%
• Russian Federation — 160th of 186: 1%
• Belgium — 161st of 186: 0.98%

What this measures

Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. This indicator denotes the percentage change over each previous year of the constant price (base year 2015) series in United States dollars.

Limitations: Each industry's contribution to growth in the economy's output is measured by growth in the industry's value added. In principle, value added in constant prices can be estimated by measuring the quantity of goods and services produced in a period, valuing them at an agreed set of base year prices, and subtracting the cost of intermediate inputs, also in constant prices. This double-deflation method requires detailed information on the structure of prices of inputs and outputs. In many industries, however, value added is extrapolated from the base year using single volume indexes of outputs or, less commonly, inputs.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 55 values

GDP (annual % growth) in nearby economies

• Angola — 3.13% (2025)
• Benin — 8.07% (2025)
• Botswana — -0.73% (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 5.29% (2025)
• Burundi — 4.24% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 6.3% (2025)
• Cameroon — 3.2% (2025)
• Central African Republic — 4.5% (2025)
• Chad — 5.59% (2025)
• Comoros — 3.75% (2025)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 5.76% (2025)
• Congo, Rep.

More economic policy & debt data for São Tomé and Principe

• GDP (current US$) — US$981.29 million (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 21.28 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$326.78 million (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 4.28 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$4,084 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 88,591 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$1,360 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 17,810 (2025)
• GNI (current US$) — US$1.06 billion (2025)
• GNI (current LCU) — 23.04 billion (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is São Tomé and Principe's GDP (annual % growth)?

1.03% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is down 4.35 percentage points from 5.38% in 1971. The highest value was 23.42% in 1977 and the lowest -10.31% in 1981.

How does São Tomé and Principe rank?

158th highest of 186 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in GDP (annual % growth) unusual for São Tomé and Principe?

In 2025, São Tomé and Principe's GDP (annual % growth) fell 0.45 percentage points on 2024 (from 1.48% to 1.03%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.38 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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