page_title: The Gambia
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: The Gambia / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: 2014 Gambia Products Export Treemap
context_page_description: The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland Africa, and is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean. The Gambia is situated on both sides of the lower reaches of the Gambia River, the nation's namesake, which flows through the centre of The Gambia and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It has an area of 10,689 square kilometres with a population of 1,857,181 as of the April 2013 census. Banjul is the Gambian capital and the country's largest metropolitan area. The largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama.
  The Gambia shares historical roots with many other West African nations in the slave trade, which was the key factor in the placing and keeping of a colony on the Gambia River, first by the Portuguese, during which era it was known as A Gâmbia. Later, on 25 May 1765, The Gambia was made a part of the British Empire when the government formally assumed control, establishing the Province of Senegambia. In 1965, The Gambia gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara, who ruled until Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless 1994 coup.
context_section_description: The Gambia has a liberal, market-based economy characterised by traditional subsistence agriculture, a historic reliance on groundnuts (peanuts) for export earnings, a re-export trade built up around its ocean port, low import duties, minimal administrative procedures, a fluctuating exchange rate with no exchange controls, and a significant tourism industry.
  The World Bank pegged Gambian GDP for 2018 at US$1,624M; the International Monetary Fund put it at US$977M for 2011.
  From 2006 to 2012, the Gambian economy grew annually at a rate of 5–6% of GDP.
  Agriculture accounts for roughly 30% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs about 70% of the labour force. Within agriculture, peanut production accounts for 6.9% of GDP, other crops 8.3%, livestock 5.3%, fishing 1.8%, and forestry 0.5%. Industry accounts for about 8% of GDP and services around 58%. The limited amount of manufacturing is primarily agricultural-based (e.g., peanut processing, bakeries, a brewery, and a tannery). Other manufacturing activities involve soap, soft drinks, and clothing.
  Previously, the United Kingdom and the EU constituted the major Gambian export markets. However, in recent years Senegal, the United States, and Japan have become significant trade partners of the Gambia. In Africa, Senegal represented the biggest trade partner of the Gambia in 2007, which is a defining contrast to previous years that had Guinea-Bissau and Ghana as equally important trade partners. Globally, Denmark, the United States, and China have become important source countries for Gambian imports. The UK, Germany, Ivory Coast, and the Netherlands also provide a fair share of Gambian imports. The Gambian trade deficit for 2007 was $331 million.
  In May 2009 twelve commercial banks existed in the Gambia, including one Islamic bank. The oldest of these, Standard Chartered Bank, dates its presence back to the entry in 1894 of what shortly thereafter became the Bank of British West Africa. In 2005 the Switzerland-based banking group International Commercial Bank established a subsidiary and now has four branches in the country. In 2007 Nigeria's Access Bank established a subsidiary that now has four branches in the country, in addition to its head office; the bank has pledged to open four more.
  2008 saw the incorporation of Zenith Bank (Gambia) Limited, a subsidiary of Nigeria's behemoth Zenith Bank Plc, in the country.
  In May 2009 the Lebanese Canadian Bank opened a subsidiary called Prime Bank.
caption: Gambia Exports by Product (2014) from Harvard Atlas of Economic Complexity
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