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 1 125.19 73.6% E
Zimbabwe 2 73.20 64.7% E
Nigeria 3 1,407.72 58.2% E
Haiti 4 31.31 55.5% E
Bolivia 5 117.64 55.0% E
Nicaragua 6 41.51 52.9% E
Gabon 7 51.14 51.8% E
Panama 8 127.87 51.8% E
Benin 9 38.61 49.2% E
Myanmar 10 231.11 49.0% E
Guatemala 11 162.52 48.8% E
Congo, Dem. Rep 12 141.69 48.5% E
Tanzania 13 178.02 47.0% E
Paraguay 14 76.87 46.6% E
Georgia 15 56.96 46.5% E
Thailand 16 1,033.49 46.5% E
Honduras 17 52.00 46.0% E
Central African Republic 18 4.87 44.4% E
Gambia 19 5.88 44.3% E
Ukraine 20 387.99 44.2% E
Liberia 21 6.06 42.7% E
Peru 22 331.31 42.2% E
El Salvador 23 44.21 41.1% E
Eswatini 24 9.00 41.1% E
Cambodia 25 61.89 41.0% E
Moldova 26 22.63 41.0% E
Cote d'Ivoire 27 131.88 40.8% E
Congo, Rep. 28 28.78 40.2% E
Angola 29 200.09 39.7% E
Armenia 30 32.47 39.4% E
Guinea 31 37.21 38.9% E
Zambia 32 49.98 38.8% D
Russia 33 3,064.33 38.2% D
Belarus 34 133.41 37.9% D
India 35 7,767.30 37.9% D
Senegal 36 47.19 37.8% D
Sierra Leone 37 9.84 37.6% D
Ecuador 38 139.13 37.5% D
Tajikistan 39 24.02 37.2% D
Azerbaijan 40 109.92 37.1% D
Niger 41 25.55 36.8% D
Burundi 42 7.47 36.6% D
Comoros 43 1.49 36.6% D
Madagascar 44 32.76 36.5% D
Ghana 45 129.78 35.8% D
Guinea-Bissau 46 2.67 35.7% D
Pakistan 47 702.83 35.7% D
Sudan 48 93.61 35.7% D
Libya 49 63.02 35.3% D
Egypt 50 1,021.61 35.0% D
Papua New Guinea 51 22.64 34.9% D
Turkmenistan 52 45.35 34.8% D
Chad 53 20.02 34.7% D
Uganda 54 70.80 34.5% D
Philippines 55 560.36 34.4% D
Mozambique 56 27.49 34.3% D
Dominican Republic 57 119.61 34.0% D
Ethiopia 58 185.40 33.7% D
Brazil 59 1,773.81 33.5% D
North Macedonia 60 18.98 33.5% D
Colombia 61 438.03 33.4% D
Burkina Faso 62 29.24 33.3% D
Mali 63 36.33 33.3% C
Nepal 64 79.98 33.3% C
Bosnia and Herzegovina 65 28.22 33.2% C
Jamaica 66 14.01 33.1% C
Suriname 67 5.44 33.1% C
Kenya 68 155.04 32.8% C
Albania 69 21.41 32.5% C
Kazakhstan 70 300.20 32.1% C
Uruguay 71 46.74 32.0% C
Morocco 72 141.37 31.8% C
Cabo Verde 73 2.05 31.7% C
Trinidad and Tobago 74 19.31 31.7% C
Lebanon 75 26.71 31.6% C
Mauritania 76 15.01 31.6% C
Rwanda 77 19.51 31.4% C
Serbia 78 73.13 31.4% C
Türkiye 79 1,218.08 31.4% C
Kyrgyzstan 80 17.85 31.1% C
Sri Lanka 81 126.98 31.1% C
Lesotho 82 2.82 31.0% C
Malawi 83 15.80 30.8% C
Tunisia 84 61.19 30.6% C
Bahamas, The 85 6.02 30.3% C
Bangladesh 86 609.84 30.3% C
Brunei 87 15.89 30.1% C
Cameroon 88 61.57 30.1% C
Argentina 89 532.22 30.0% C
Croatia 90 60.92 29.8% C
Togo 91 11.30 29.7% C
Mexico 92 1,153.97 29.4% C
Guyana 93 30.48 29.3% C
South Africa 94 370.95 29.0% C
Bulgaria 95 76.85 28.0% B
Malta 96 11.20 27.8% B
Laos 97 25.34 27.4% B
Yemen, Rep. 98 16.34 27.4% B
Cyprus 99 16.38 27.3% B
Uzbekistan 100 111.71 27.3% B
Greece 101 129.87 27.1% B
Costa Rica 102 45.82 26.8% B
Botswana 103 18.12 26.7% B
Malaysia 104 403.78 25.3% B
Latvia 105 22.46 25.1% B
Namibia 106 10.87 24.7% B
Italy 107 920.83 24.0% B
Slovenia 108 30.40 24.0% B
Romania 109 229.15 23.8% B
Hungary 110 113.06 23.5% B
Bhutan 111 4.12 22.9% B
Korea, Rep. 112 736.83 22.9% B
Saudi Arabia 113 608.46 22.9% B
Indonesia 114 1,261.07 22.6% B
Estonia 115 15.84 22.5% B
Poland 116 445.15 22.5% B
Taiwan 117 352.32 22.4% B
Lithuania 118 35.26 21.8% B
Spain 119 587.91 21.5% B
Israel 120 120.31 21.0% B
Mauritius 121 8.43 20.6% B
Vietnam 122 393.52 20.6% B
United Arab Emirates 123 179.04 20.5% B
Portugal 124 108.45 20.4% B
Kuwait 125 62.30 20.3% B
Oman 126 47.25 19.9% A
Chile 127 136.00 19.5% A
Belgium 128 173.29 19.3% A
Algeria 129 126.24 17.5% A
Bahrain 130 20.32 17.3% A
Jordan 131 23.17 17.0% A
Qatar 132 64.35 16.7% A
Norway 133 89.36 15.8% A
Denmark 134 75.57 15.3% A
Mongolia 135 10.96 15.2% A
Slovak Republic 136 36.30 14.9% A
Finland 137 54.39 14.7% A
Czechia 138 86.17 14.5% A
Iceland 139 4.08 13.9% A
Hong Kong 140 75.97 13.7% A
Sweden 141 104.75 13.6% A
France 142 563.73 13.2% A
China 143 4,965.28 12.7% A
Ireland 144 85.63 12.4% A
Canada 145 279.99 11.3% A
Germany 146 651.86 11.2% A
Singapore 147 85.43 10.5% A
New Zealand 148 28.58 10.1% A
United Kingdom 149 412.34 10.1% A
Luxembourg 150 9.74 10.0% A
Netherlands 151 136.65 10.0% A
Australia 152 171.16 9.9% A
Japan 153 603.52 9.6% A
Austria 154 56.69 8.8% A
Switzerland 155 59.24 7.5% A
United States 156 1,882.72 7.2% A


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