African Countries With the Highest GDP per Capita

With a GDP per capita of $19,470 in 2022, Seychelles is Africa's most prosperous nation. Highly dependent on tourism, the archipelago's economy remains highly vulnerable to global disruptions affecting the sector, as was the case during the 2008-2009 recession and the Covid pandemic (when GDP fell by almost 8 percent in 2009 and 2020).

In second and third place are Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, with a GDP per capita of between $10,000 and $11,000 in 2022, and whose economies benefit from (and depend heavily on) oil revenues. In reaction to the coup d'état in Gabon targeting President Ali Bongo, who has been in power for 14 years and was deposed last night, oil prices rose slightly earlier on Wednesday August 30, serving as a reminder of geopolitical risks to the world market.

Host of the annual BRICS summit last week, South Africa ranks sixth, with a per capita GDP of around $6,700 in 2022, behind Mauritius ($10,120) and Botswana ($7,260).

Although economists use GDP per capita to compare the level of prosperity of populations worldwide, it does not take into account the income inequalities that can exist within a country. Based on the Gini index, for example, some African countries are among the most unequal on the planet in terms of wealth redistribution.