In 2025, Equatorial Guinea’s economy operated within an international environment characterized by high levels of uncertainty, stemming from the intensification of geopolitical tensions, the rise of international terrorism, and the escalation of trade disputes, particularly following the widespread tariff increases driven by the United States.
Following the moderate rebound of 0.4% observed in 2024, Equatorial Guinea’s economy registered a GDP contraction of 5.8% in 2025, a significantly more adverse outcome than the initially projected 1.6% decline. This deterioration is explained by the combination of two determining internal and external factors: the sharp decrease in national hydrocarbon production (-19.9%), driven by the closure of the methanol plant, the depletion of mature fields, and technical incidents; and the fall in international Brent crude oil prices, which declined from $80.7 to $69.0 per barrel.
As a direct consequence, oil GDP contracted by 16.8%. However, the non-oil economy showed an encouraging sign, growing by 2.4%, driven by non-oil primary activities (+5.7%), the non-oil secondary sector (+3.6%), and the tertiary sector (+2.1%).
Externally, hydrocarbon exports fell by 21.7%, affected by lower volumes and prices. Nevertheless, the country maintained a current account surplus of 4.3% of GDP and comfortable international reserves, standing at 5.4 months of imports, above the CEMAC community threshold.
