# Gambia — national dossier

Gambia — economy, society, governance, health, education, technology, geography, resources and military in one sourced dossier: 44 indicators, each with…

Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/GMB
Updated: 2026-08-14 (latest domain refresh; each figure carries its own observation year)

## Overview

- Official name: Republic of the Gambia
- Capital: Banjul
- Region: Western Africa, Africa
- Population: 2.1 m
- Area: 10,689 km²
- Languages: English
- Currency: dalasi (GMD)

A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero. Each figure shows the year it was observed — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Economy

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $2.6 B | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| GDP per capita | $919 | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| GDP growth | 5.9% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Inflation | 11.6% | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Trade openness | 62.2% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |

## Society

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 2.8 m | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Life expectancy | 66.1 yrs | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Urban population | 65.0% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Fertility rate | 3.9 | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Literacy rate | 51.6% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |

## Governance

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 53.7 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Political stability | 65.6 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Government effectiveness | 40.9 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Regulatory quality | 44.4 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Rule of law | 50.2 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Control of corruption | 41.1 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |

## Health

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 2.9% | 2023 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |
| Physicians | 0.09 | 2023 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |
| Under-5 mortality | 42.4 | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) |
| Measles immunisation | 83.0% | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) |
| Safe drinking water | 48.2% | 2024 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |

## Education

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 51.6% | 2021 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Education spending | 2.8% | 2023 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Primary enrolment | 100.4% | 2025 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Secondary enrolment | 107.0% | 2021 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Tertiary enrolment | 13.5% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |

## Technology

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| R&D spending | 0.1% | 2018 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Researchers (per million) | 51 | 2018 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Internet users | 49.5% | 2024 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) |
| Mobile subscriptions | 126 | 2024 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) |
| High-tech exports | 3.3% | 2024 | World Development Indicators |

## Geography

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 10,120 km² | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| Forest area | 22.3% | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural land | 62.6% | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.2 | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Renewable energy | 47.7% | 2022 | World Development Indicators |

## Resources

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 2.9% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Forest rents | 2.9% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Electricity access | 69.0% | 2024 | World Development Indicators |

## Military

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 0.6% | 2024 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |
| Defense spending | $14 M | 2024 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |
| Armed forces | 4,000 | 2020 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |

Every metric above is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md).

Machine-readable claims — every figure above as an addressable claim ID (TL:GMB:<metric>:<year>) with value, source, license and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/GMB.claims.json

History: "From the megalithic stone circles and the Mandinka kingdoms of the river, through the Atlantic slave trade and a narrow British enclave inside French Senegal, to independence in 1965, the Jammeh years, and a democratic transition in 2017." — the sourced chronicle is at https://terralore.co/country/GMB/chronicle.md (6 eras, 25 events).

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex

Citation template: Terralore, "Gambia — national dossier", terralore.co/country/GMB, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.
