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 1 125.39 73.3% E
Zimbabwe 2 73.31 64.3% E
Nigeria 3 1,399.03 57.4% E
Myanmar 4 255.71 52.6% E
Nicaragua 5 39.64 51.2% E
Benin 6 40.47 51.1% E
Bolivia 7 105.66 50.5% E
Georgia 8 62.36 50.0% E
Panama 9 118.76 49.2% E
Cambodia 10 77.98 49.1% E
Haiti 11 26.31 48.5% E
Azerbaijan 12 152.68 47.8% D
Central African Republic 13 5.37 47.6% E
Gabon 14 46.07 47.2% E
Paraguay 15 78.16 47.1% E
Peru 16 379.12 46.7% E
Guatemala 17 152.25 46.5% E
Tanzania 18 170.99 45.1% E
Congo, Rep. 19 33.15 44.7% E
Congo, Dem. Rep 20 128.06 44.4% E
Gambia 21 5.86 43.8% E
Honduras 22 48.70 43.6% E
Ukraine 23 377.83 43.4% E
Thailand 24 924.43 42.7% E
Niger 25 30.40 41.8% D
Armenia 26 34.35 41.4% E
Chad 27 24.83 41.1% D
Uruguay 28 64.32 41.1% C
Angola 29 210.65 41.0% E
Liberia 30 5.71 40.3% E
Zambia 31 53.00 40.3% E
Tajikistan 32 25.83 39.6% D
Madagascar 33 36.26 39.3% D
Comoros 34 1.62 39.2% D
Eswatini 35 8.56 39.1% E
Sierra Leone 36 10.11 38.1% D
Moldova 37 19.92 37.1% E
Sudan 38 95.79 37.1% D
Senegal 39 46.28 36.8% D
Cote d'Ivoire 40 115.79 36.4% E
Kazakhstan 41 349.54 36.3% C
El Salvador 42 37.77 36.2% E
North Macedonia 43 20.93 36.2% D
Sri Lanka 44 153.34 36.0% C
Ghana 45 132.12 35.9% D
Burundi 46 7.24 35.3% D
Tunisia 47 71.52 34.7% C
Belarus 48 118.73 34.6% D
Turkmenistan 49 44.70 34.4% D
Philippines 50 560.54 34.2% D
Kenya 51 164.07 34.0% C
Brazil 52 1,759.56 33.3% D
Ecuador 53 120.58 33.3% D
Suriname 54 5.48 33.2% C
Pakistan 55 639.44 32.8% D
Guinea 56 30.48 32.7% E
Guinea-Bissau 57 2.41 32.5% D
Papua New Guinea 58 20.86 32.4% D
Ethiopia 59 177.84 32.3% D
Mozambique 60 25.86 32.3% D
Serbia 61 76.17 32.2% C
Bosnia and Herzegovina 62 27.06 32.1% C
Libya 63 56.42 32.1% D
Malawi 64 16.88 32.1% C
Uganda 65 65.75 32.1% D
Togo 66 12.25 31.4% C
Cabo Verde 67 1.98 30.9% C
Kyrgyzstan 68 17.69 30.9% C
Burkina Faso 69 26.89 30.7% D
Jamaica 70 12.83 30.7% C
Mexico 71 1,216.47 30.6% C
Mali 72 33.15 30.5% C
Croatia 73 62.14 30.3% C
Lebanon 74 25.34 30.3% C
Brunei 75 16.10 30.2% C
Lesotho 76 2.76 30.1% C
Bulgaria 77 82.56 29.7% B
Argentina 78 526.12 29.6% C
Colombia 79 377.04 29.6% D
Türkiye 80 1,125.27 29.5% C
Trinidad and Tobago 81 17.70 29.4% C
Algeria 82 231.20 29.2% A
Dominican Republic 83 98.57 29.1% D
Egypt 84 824.96 29.0% D
Cameroon 85 59.53 28.9% C
Rwanda 86 17.86 28.9% C
Malta 87 11.60 28.7% B
Mauritania 88 13.50 28.6% C
Botswana 89 19.88 28.5% B
Nepal 90 67.10 28.5% D
Uzbekistan 91 116.72 28.4% B
Albania 92 17.87 28.1% C
Morocco 93 117.62 27.4% C
Guyana 94 25.08 27.3% C
Bangladesh 95 539.20 27.2% C
Costa Rica 96 46.53 27.2% B
India 97 5,228.50 27.1% D
Romania 98 264.06 26.8% B
Malaysia 99 434.38 26.7% B
Namibia 100 12.10 26.7% B
Yemen, Rep. 101 16.00 26.7% B
Bahamas, The 102 5.16 26.6% C
Russia 103 1,896.37 26.0% D
South Africa 104 314.99 24.9% C
Cyprus 105 14.36 24.5% B
Hungary 106 115.34 23.9% B
Bhutan 107 4.32 23.7% B
Korea, Rep. 108 751.54 23.3% B
United Arab Emirates 109 206.92 23.2% B
Indonesia 110 1,297.29 23.0% B
Laos 111 20.72 22.9% B
Estonia 112 16.08 22.8% B
Greece 113 103.35 22.4% B
Slovenia 114 27.25 21.9% B
Poland 115 426.28 21.7% B
Mauritius 116 8.87 21.6% B
Vietnam 117 416.81 21.5% B
Saudi Arabia 118 568.40 21.4% B
Chile 119 149.92 21.2% A
Italy 120 790.72 21.1% B
Lithuania 121 33.55 20.9% B
Latvia 122 17.86 20.7% B
Spain 123 546.25 20.2% B
Taiwan 124 302.91 19.7% B
Belgium 125 168.07 18.8% A
Kuwait 126 56.97 18.6% B
Portugal 127 91.34 17.6% B
Oman 128 40.97 17.4% A
Israel 129 95.44 17.2% B
Mongolia 130 12.26 16.7% A
Bahrain 131 18.94 16.1% A
Qatar 132 62.48 16.1% A
France 133 690.09 15.8% A
Czechia 134 94.28 15.7% A
Jordan 135 20.21 14.9% A
Hong Kong 136 82.12 14.7% A
Slovak Republic 137 33.02 13.7% A
Finland 138 49.83 13.6% A
Norway 139 71.15 12.9% A
Iceland 140 3.68 12.7% A
Sweden 141 96.22 12.6% A
China 142 4,838.45 12.3% A
Australia 143 209.28 11.9% A
Denmark 144 55.96 11.7% A
Canada 145 285.39 11.5% A
Ireland 146 75.73 11.1% A
United Kingdom 147 443.87 10.8% A
Singapore 148 86.37 10.6% A
Germany 149 600.48 10.4% A
Japan 150 651.27 10.3% A
New Zealand 151 28.60 10.1% A
Netherlands 152 127.67 9.4% A
Luxembourg 153 9.00 9.3% A
Austria 154 47.07 7.4% A
United States 155 1,910.08 7.3% A
Switzerland 156 54.18 6.9% A


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






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