Economies by Informal Economy Size

An informal economy (informal sector or shadow economy) is the part of any economy that is neither offically taxed nor monitored. Read more about the World Economic Informal Economy database.

The table below shows the size of each country’s informal economy as a percentage of GDP, ranked by largest to smallest.






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Country Rank
Order
Informal Economy
(GDP PPP, Billions Int$, 2023)
Informal Economy
% of GDP
World Economics
Grade
A-E
Afghanistan 1 88.69 73.6% E
Zimbabwe 2 45.67 64.7% E
Nigeria 3 1,229.21 58.2% E
Haiti 4 29.58 55.5% E
Bolivia 5 100.51 55.0% E
Nicaragua 6 33.70 52.9% E
Gabon 7 36.36 51.8% E
Panama 8 121.08 51.8% E
Benin 9 35.69 49.2% E
Myanmar 10 184.66 49.0% E
Guatemala 11 119.41 48.8% E
Congo, Dem. Rep 12 110.88 48.5% E
Tanzania 13 132.92 47.0% E
Paraguay 14 68.32 46.6% E
Georgia 15 44.91 46.5% E
Thailand 16 884.10 46.5% E
Honduras 17 46.05 46.0% E
Central African Republic 18 3.93 44.4% E
Gambia 19 4.50 44.3% E
Ukraine 20 234.90 44.2% E
Liberia 21 5.51 42.7% E
Peru 22 287.64 42.2% E
El Salvador 23 36.96 41.1% E
Eswatini 24 7.81 41.1% E
Cambodia 25 57.88 41.0% E
Moldova 26 19.92 41.0% E
Cote d'Ivoire 27 108.08 40.8% E
Congo, Rep. 28 16.82 40.2% E
Angola 29 164.18 39.7% E
Armenia 30 25.87 39.4% E
Guinea 31 26.13 38.9% E
India 32 6,563.78 38.9% E
Zambia 33 46.22 38.8% D
Russia 34 2,189.92 38.2% D
Belarus 35 92.74 37.9% D
Senegal 36 40.27 37.8% D
Sierra Leone 37 9.73 37.6% D
Ecuador 38 112.15 37.5% D
Tajikistan 39 22.07 37.2% D
Azerbaijan 40 80.19 37.1% D
Niger 41 20.35 36.8% D
Burundi 42 6.21 36.6% D
Comoros 43 1.40 36.6% D
Madagascar 44 29.59 36.5% D
Ghana 45 106.67 35.8% D
Guinea-Bissau 46 2.26 35.7% D
Pakistan 47 658.51 35.7% D
Sudan 48 121.26 35.7% D
Libya 49 89.15 35.3% D
Egypt 50 781.57 35.0% D
Papua New Guinea 51 20.65 34.9% D
Turkmenistan 52 45.49 34.8% D
Chad 53 16.01 34.7% D
Uganda 54 59.43 34.5% D
Philippines 55 514.19 34.4% D
Mozambique 56 23.16 34.3% D
Dominican Republic 57 103.14 34.0% D
Ethiopia 58 160.67 33.7% D
Brazil 59 1,498.11 33.5% D
North Macedonia 60 15.98 33.5% D
Colombia 61 364.49 33.4% D
Burkina Faso 62 26.07 33.3% D
Mali 63 32.15 33.3% C
Nepal 64 71.29 33.3% D
Bosnia and Herzegovina 65 24.40 33.2% C
Jamaica 66 13.95 33.1% C
Suriname 67 4.37 33.1% C
Kenya 68 136.23 32.8% C
Albania 69 18.95 32.5% C
Kazakhstan 70 227.48 32.1% C
Uruguay 71 37.36 32.0% C
Morocco 72 131.94 31.8% C
Lebanon 73 29.15 31.6% C
Mauritania 74 12.76 31.6% C
Rwanda 75 15.84 31.4% C
Serbia 76 63.92 31.4% C
Türkiye 77 1,197.47 31.4% C
Kyrgyzstan 78 14.93 31.1% C
Sri Lanka 79 116.78 31.1% C
Lesotho 80 2.58 31.0% C
Malawi 81 13.71 30.8% C
Tunisia 82 52.90 30.6% C
Bahamas, The 83 6.20 30.3% C
Bangladesh 84 482.71 30.3% C
Cameroon 85 47.93 30.1% C
Argentina 86 435.33 30.0% C
Croatia 87 52.02 29.8% C
Togo 88 8.94 29.7% C
Mexico 89 1,070.73 29.4% C
Guyana 90 15.88 29.3% C
South Africa 91 348.96 29.0% C
Bulgaria 92 63.34 28.0% B
Malta 93 9.50 27.8% B
Laos 94 24.53 27.4% B
Yemen, Rep. 95 16.58 27.4% B
Cyprus 96 14.64 27.3% B
Uzbekistan 97 105.30 27.3% B
Greece 98 116.81 27.1% B
Costa Rica 99 39.91 26.8% B
Botswana 100 16.23 26.7% B
Malaysia 101 349.76 25.3% B
Latvia 102 19.55 25.1% B
Namibia 103 9.16 24.7% B
Italy 104 782.35 24.0% B
Slovenia 105 26.20 24.0% B
Romania 106 186.81 23.8% B
Hungary 107 99.48 23.5% B
Bhutan 108 3.55 22.9% B
Korea, Rep. 109 671.41 22.9% B
Saudi Arabia 110 589.32 22.9% B
Indonesia 111 1,152.87 22.6% B
Estonia 112 13.86 22.5% B
Poland 113 387.35 22.5% B
Taiwan 114 354.49 22.4% B
Lithuania 115 29.96 21.8% B
Spain 116 513.91 21.5% B
Israel 117 110.91 21.0% B
Mauritius 118 7.49 20.6% B
Vietnam 119 341.53 20.6% B
United Arab Emirates 120 180.81 20.5% B
Portugal 121 92.40 20.4% B
Kuwait 122 60.39 20.3% B
Oman 123 41.68 19.9% A
Chile 124 117.07 19.5% A
Belgium 125 144.32 19.3% A
Algeria 126 106.09 17.5% A
Bahrain 127 18.62 17.3% A
Jordan 128 23.84 17.0% A
Qatar 129 55.26 16.7% A
Norway 130 68.81 15.8% A
Denmark 131 62.39 15.3% A
Mongolia 132 8.29 15.2% A
Slovak Republic 133 31.26 14.9% A
Finland 134 46.30 14.7% A
Iceland 135 3.44 13.9% A
Hong Kong 136 69.25 13.7% A
Sweden 137 89.19 13.6% A
France 138 469.96 13.2% A
China 139 4,279.13 12.7% A
Ireland 140 84.81 12.4% A
Canada 141 242.43 11.3% A
Germany 142 561.78 11.2% A
Singapore 143 71.69 10.5% A
New Zealand 144 26.02 10.1% A
United Kingdom 145 356.17 10.1% A
Luxembourg 146 8.55 10.0% A
Netherlands 147 116.34 10.0% A
Australia 148 146.91 9.9% A
Japan 149 558.74 9.6% A
Austria 150 49.13 8.8% A
Switzerland 151 51.57 7.5% A
United States 152 1,703.96 7.2% A


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Category definitions:
         A: Very good
         B: Good
         C: Average
         D: Poor
         E: Very poor