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Visualizing The Size Of Each Country's Shadow Economy
In low income countries, shadow activity makes up a larger slice of GDP, standing at an estimated 42.4% share. In comparison, this drops to 5.9% of GDP in rich countries, with the UAE seeing the smallest share overall.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows the size of each country's shadow economy, based on analysis from the Ernst & Young Global Shadow Economy Report 2025.
Defining the Shadow Economy
To start, the shadow economy includes unreported or untaxed activity, making it difficult for authorities to monitor.
This includes illegal enterprises, drug trafficking, street vendors, or cash transactions made off the books. While measuring the informal economy is hard to quantify, it has shrunk from 17.7% of world GDP in 2000 to 11.8% in 2023.
Breaking Down the Shadow Economy by Country
Here are countries with the largest shadow economies as a share of GDP:
Rank Country Shadow Economy
% of GDP in 2023 Shadow Economy Value GDP 2023
| 1 | ???????? Sierra Leone | 64.5 | $4.1B | $6.4B |
| 2 | ???????? Niger | 56.3 | $9.5B | $16.8B |
| 3 | ???????? Nepal | 51.0 | $20.9B | $40.9B |
| 4 | ???????? Ethiopia | 50.2 | $80.2B | $159.8B |
| 5 | ???????? Burundi | 49.2 | $2.1B | $4.2B |
| 6 | ???????? Mali | 46.8 | $9.5B | $20.2B |
| 7 | ???????? Tanzania | 44.7 | $35.4B | $79.1B |
| 8 | ???????? Burkina Faso | 43.8 | $8.9B | $20.3B |
| 9 | ???????? DRC | 42.1 | $28.2B | $66.9B |
| 10 | ???????? Mozambique | 39.8 | $8.4B | $21.0B |
| 11 | ???????? Kenya | 38.4 | $41.8B | $108.8B |
| 12 | ???????? Myanmar | 37.9 | $24.4B | $64.5B |
| 13 | ???????? Zambia | 35.6 | $10.0B | $28.2B |
| 14 | ???????? Pakistan | 35.0 | $118.1B | $337.5B |
| 15 | ???????? Sudan | 34.9 | $13.3B | $38.1B |
| 16 | ???????? Cameroon | 33.3 | $16.4B | $49.3B |
| 17 | ???????? Tajikistan | 33.2 | $4.0B | $11.9B |
| 18 | ???????? Benin | 32.9 | $6.5B | $19.7B |
| 19 | ???????? Congo | 32.6 | $4.6B | $14.2B |
| 20 | ???????? Bolivia | 32.1 | $14.6B | $45.5B |
| 21 | ???????? Papua New Guinea | 31.4 | $9.6B | $30.7B |
| 22 | ???????? Uganda | 31.1 | $15.2B | $48.8B |
| 23 | ???????? Lesotho | 30.9 | $0.6B | $2.1B |
| 24 | ???????? Malawi | 30.9 | $3.9B | $12.7B |
| 25 | ???????? Nicaragua | 30.7 | $5.5B | $17.8B |
| 26 | ???????? Angola | 30.2 | $25.6B | $84.8B |
| 27 | ???????? Nigeria | 30.0 | $109.1B | $363.8B |
| 28 | ???????? Bangladesh | 29.0 | $126.8B | $437.4B |
| 29 | ???????? Cote d'Ivoire | 28.8 | $22.7B | $78.9B |
| 30 | ???????? Togo | 28.1 | $2.6B | $9.2B |
| 31 | ???????? Albania | 27.8 | $6.5B | $23.5B |
| 32 | ???????? Peru | 27.1 | $72.5B | $267.6B |
| 33 | ???????? Morocco | 27.0 | $39.0B | $144.4B |
| 34 | ???????? Ghana | 26.8 | $20.5B | $76.4B |
| 35 | ???????? Honduras | 26.7 | $9.2B | $34.4B |
| 36 | ???????? Ecuador | 26.5 | $31.5B | $118.8B |
| 37 | ???????? Cambodia | 26.4 | $11.2B | $42.3B |
| 38 | ???????? South Africa | 26.3 | $100.1B | $380.7B |
| 39 | ???????? India | 26.1 | $931.1B | $3,567.6B |
| 40 | ???????? Vietnam | 25.1 | $107.9B | $429.7B |
| 41 | ???????? Iraq | 24.8 | $62.2B | $250.8B |
| 42 | ???????? Uzbekistan | 24.4 | $24.8B | $101.6B |
| 43 | ???????? Guatemala | 24.3 | $25.4B | $104.5B |
| 44 | ???????? Algeria | 24.2 | $59.9B | $247.6B |
| 45 | ???????? Thailand | 24.0 | $123.6B | $515.0B |
| 46 | ???????? Indonesia | 23.8 | $326.3B | $1,371.2B |
| 47 | ???????? Gabon | 23.1 | $4.5B | $19.4B |
| 48 | ???????? Iran | 22.5 | $91.0B | $404.6B |
| 49 | ???????? Georgia | 22.1 | $6.8B | $30.8B |
| 50 | ???????? Egypt | 21.2 | $84.0B | $396.0B |
| 51 | ???????? Tunisia | 21.2 | $10.3B | $48.5B |
| 52 | ???????? Colombia | 20.9 | $76.0B | $363.5B |
| 53 | ???????? Paraguay | 20.9 | $9.0B | $43.0B |
| 54 | ???????? Philippines | 20.7 | $90.5B | $437.1B |
| 55 | ???????? Brazil | 20.6 | $447.8B | $2,173.7B |
| 56 | ???????? China | 20.3 | $3,612.3B | $17,794.8B |
| 57 | ???????? SriLanka | 20.1 | $17.0B | $84.4B |
| 58 | ???????? El Salvador | 19.9 | $6.8B | $34.0B |
| 59 | ???????? Turkmenistan | 19.7 | $11.9B | $60.6B |
| 60 | ???????? Lebanon | 19.6 | N/A | N/A |
| 61 | ???????? Ukraine | 19.3 | $34.5B | $178.8B |
| 62 | ???????? Armenia | 18.9 | $4.6B | $24.1B |
| 63 | ???????? Bosnia and Herzegovina | 18.6 | $5.1B | $27.5B |
| 64 | ???????? Belarus | 18.3 | $13.2B | $71.9B |
| 65 | ???????? Jordan | 18.3 | $9.3B | $51.0B |
| 66 | ???????? Mexico | 17.9 | $320.2B | $1,789.1B |
| 67 | ???????? Argentina | 17.8 | $115.0B | $646.1B |
| 68 | ???????? Azerbaijan | 17.7 | $12.8B | $72.4B |
| 69 | ???????? Serbia | 17.2 | $14.0B | $81.3B |
| 70 | ???????? Botswana | 17.0 | $3.3B | $19.4B |
| 71 | ???????? North Macedonia | 16.9 | $2.7B | $15.8B |
| 72 | ???????? Libya | 16.3 | $7.4B | $45.1B |
| 73 | ???????? Dominican Republic | 16.2 | $19.7B | $121.4B |
| 74 | ???????? Türkiye | 16.1 | $180.0B | $1,118.3B |
| 75 | ???????? Costa Rica | 13.8 | $11.9B | $86.5B |
| 76 | ???????? Montenegro | 13.6 | $1.0B | $7.5B |
| 77 | ???????? Uruguay | 13.5 | $10.4B | $77.2B |
| 78 | ???????? Romania | 13.1 | $46.0B | $350.8B |
| 79 | ???????? Russia | 13.1 | $264.8B | $2,021.4B |
| 80 | ???????? Malaysia | 12.3 | $49.2B | $399.7B |
| 81 | ???????? Panama | 12.1 | $10.1B | $83.3B |
| 82 | ???????? Greece | 12.0 | $29.2B | $243.5B |
| 83 | ???????? Chile | 11.9 | $39.9B | $335.5B |
| 84 | ???????? Guyana | 11.8 | $2.0B | $17.2B |
| 85 | ???????? Kazakhstan | 11.2 | $29.4B | $262.6B |
| 86 | ???????? Mauritius | 10.6 | $1.5B | $14.6B |
| 87 | ???????? Bulgaria | 10.5 | $10.8B | $102.4B |
| 88 | ???????? Puerto Rico | 10.3 | $12.1B | $117.9B |
| 89 | ???????? Poland | 9.7 | $78.5B | $809.2B |
| 90 | ???????? Croatia | 9.3 | $7.8B | $84.4B |
| 91 | ???????? Latvia | 9.3 | $3.9B | $42.2B |
| 92 | ???????? Portugal | 9.3 | $26.9B | $289.1B |
| 93 | ???????? Hungary | 9.2 | $19.5B | $212.4B |
| 94 | ???????? Slovak Republic | 8.9 | $11.8B | $132.9B |
| 95 | ???????? New Zealand | 8.2 | $20.7B | $252.2B |
| 96 | ???????? Slovenia | 8.0 | $5.5B | $69.1B |
| 97 | ???????? Italy | 7.8 | $179.5B | $2,300.9B |
| 98 | ???????? Iceland | 7.6 | $2.4B | $31.3B |
| 99 | ???????? Korea | 7.6 | $130.2B | $1,712.8B |
| 100 | ???????? Malta | 7.5 | $1.7B | $22.3B |
| 101 | ???????? Spain | 7.5 | $121.5B | $1,620.1B |
| 102 | ???????? Estonia | 7.4 | $3.1B | $41.3B |
| 103 | ???????? Lithuania | 7.4 | $5.9B | $79.8B |
| 104 | ???????? Germany | 6.8 | $307.7B | $4,525.7B |
| 105 | ???????? France | 6.7 | $204.5B | $3,051.8B |
| 106 | ???????? Japan | 6.7 | $281.7B | $4,204.5B |
| 107 | ???????? Sweden | 6.7 | $39.2B | $585.0B |
| 108 | ???????? Austria | 6.6 | $33.8B | $511.7B |
| 109 | ???????? Belgium | 6.6 | $42.6B | $644.8B |
| 110 | ???????? Finland | 6.6 | $19.5B | $295.5B |
| 111 | ???????? Czechia | 6.5 | $22.3B | $343.2B |
| 112 | ???????? Norway | 6.4 | $31.1B | $485.3B |
| 113 | ???????? Oman | 6.4 | $7.0B | $108.8B |
| 114 | ???????? Netherlands | 6.3 | $72.7B | $1,154.4B |
| 115 | ???????? Luxembourg | 6.1 | $5.2B | $85.8B |
| 116 | ???????? Denmark | 5.9 | $24.0B | $407.1B |
| 117 | ???????? Australia | 5.7 | $98.5B | $1,728.1B |
| 118 | ???????? Israel | 5.5 | $28.2B | $513.6B |
| 119 | ???????? Bahamas | 5.4 | $0.8B | $14.3B |
| 120 | ???????? Cyprus | 5.3 | $1.8B | $33.9B |
| 121 | ???????? UK | 5.3 | $179.2B | $3,380.9B |
| 122 | ???????? Saudi Arabia | 5.2 | $55.5B | $1,067.6B |
| 123 | ???????? Ireland | 5.1 | $28.1B | $551.4B |
| 124 | ???????? Switzerland | 5.1 | $45.1B | $884.9B |
| 125 | ???????? United States | 5.0 | $1,386.0B | $27,720.7B |
| 126 | ???????? Canada | 4.5 | $96.4B | $2,142.5B |
| 127 | ???????? Kuwait | 4.0 | $6.5B | $163.7B |
| 128 | ???????? Singapore | 3.4 | $17.0B | $501.4B |
| 129 | ???????? Bahrain | 2.5 | $1.2B | $46.1B |
| 130 | ???????? Qatar | 2.2 | $4.7B | $213.0B |
| 131 | ????? UAE | 2.1 | $10.8B | $514.1B |
As we can see, Sierra Leone ranks first overall, with its shadow economy equaling 64.5% of GDP.