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Economic Overview

Despite a challenging regional context and international circumstances, Togo demonstrates robust growth (averaging 6.1% between 2021 and 2023), propelled by strong domestic demand and sustained public and private investments. Economic growth reached an estimated 5.3% in 2024. On the supply side, strong agricultural performance and sustained activity in the services sector have supported growth, while industrial activity has shown signs of slowing, indicating the impact of a weak global environment and reduced demand from neighbouring countries. Aggregate demand is bolstered by strong private investment and improving consumer spending as inflation eases, but it slowed due to fiscal consolidation efforts, weak global demand, and regional uncertainties. Growth is projected to reach around 5.5% over the medium term, as per the IMF’s outlook.

Concerning public finances, the government has intensified efforts to boost revenues and reduce spending, particularly on goods, services, and public subsidies. However, high security spending, new investments in economic and social infrastructure, and a one-off recapitalization of the state-owned bank UTB kept the fiscal deficit elevated at 6.1% of GDP in 2024 (or 4.5% excluding the recapitalization of UTB). Fiscal consolidation efforts to reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP by 2025 will be challenging in the short term, driven mainly by slower capital spending and tax and customs reforms to increase revenue (World Bank). Public debt peaked at an estimated 69.7% of GDP in 2024 from 68% one year earlier because of the cost of bank recapitalization and is expected to decline steadily over the forecast horizon in line with fiscal consolidation. The average inflation rate decreased to 2.9% in 2024 (from 5.3% in 2023), according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Studies. The regional inflation rate is expected to align with the WAEMU target by 2025, while regional reserves are projected to gradually increase, supported by the resumption of international bond issuances, recovering exports, and monetary policy easing in the Euro Area.

In 2023, the unemployment rate in the country was at 1.9% (World Bank, ILO estimate), but the majority of people are still employed in the informal sector. Households' purchasing power has been supported by moderating inflation since 2023. As a result, the extreme poverty rate (under USD 2.15 in 2017 PPP) was expected to slightly decrease to 26.2% in 2024, down from 27.2% in 2023 (World Bank), although significant disparities in economic opportunities and access to basic services between rural and urban areas have continued to hinder progress in reducing poverty, inequality, and fragility in Togo. The country’s GDP per capita (PPP) was estimated at USD 3,289 in 2024 by the IMF.

 
Main Indicators 2023 (E)2024 (E)2025 (E)2026 (E)2027 (E)
GDP (billions USD) 9.089.7710.4611.2912.13
GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change) 5.65.35.35.55.5
GDP per Capita (USD) 1,0011,0511,0991,1591,215
General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP) 68.069.768.466.464.8
Inflation Rate (%) 5.32.72.02.02.0
Current Account (billions USD) -0.26-0.29-0.30-0.30-0.26
Current Account (in % of GDP) -2.9-3.0-2.9-2.6-2.2

Source: IMF – World Economic Outlook Database , October 2021

Country Risk

See the country risk analysis provided by La Coface.

 

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Main Sectors of Industry

The agricultural sector contributes to 18.1% of GDP and employs 30.3% of the active workforce (World Bank). The main food crops include cassava, yams, maize, millet, and sorghum, with cocoa, coffee, and cotton as cash crops (generating about 20% of export earnings). Although many farmers practice subsistence farming, some basic foodstuffs still need to be imported. Moreover, the agricultural sector is vulnerable to climate conditions and parasite infestation. Togo achieved a record cereal production of 1.5 million metric tons during the 2023-2024 season. Grain output has been steadily increasing since 2019. Maize is the most widely cultivated cereal, followed by paddy rice and millet-sorghum.

The industrial sector is quite limited in Togo, accounting for one-fifth of both GDP and total employment. With an estimated 30 million metric tons of reserves (USGS), phosphate is the country's most important commodity, making Togo one of the world's largest producers of phosphate. Hence, mining is the main industrial sub-sector, followed by food processing. The country also has clinker deposits, which fuel a dynamic cement industry. Manufacturing as a whole accounts for 13% of the country’s GDP, while mineral rents have a share of 4.9% (World Bank).

The services sector is estimated to account for 51.7% of GDP, giving employment to 49.6% of the active population. The sector has been growing consistently in recent years, and trade is its biggest contributor. The Lomé Port, which is one of the largest ports in the region, is a major asset as the transport of goods to neighbouring countries is boosting the services industry. The country is also investing in tourism: in the 2024 budget, the government allocated XOF 2 billion for the development of the sector. Togo’s financial sector includes 14 banks and 74 microfinance institutions. At the end-2023, bank assets reached 58.7% of GDP, with deposits at 42.2% (+6.2%) and credit at 30% (+3.8%). The microfinance sector held deposits and credits of 6.2% and 6.7% of GDP, respectively, showing growth from 2022. This paper primarily examines the banking sector (IMF).

 
Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector Agriculture Industry Services
Employment By Sector (in % of Total Employment) 30.3 20.1 49.6
Value Added (in % of GDP) 18.1 20.2 51.7
Value Added (Annual % Change) 4.2 6.7 7.6

Source: World Bank - Latest available data.

 
Monetary Indicators 20162017201820192020
CFA Franc BCEAO (XOF) - Average Annual Exchange Rate For 1 USD 593.01582.09555.72585.90575.59

Source: World Bank - Latest available data.

 

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Foreign Trade

In Togo, foreign trade represents 61% of the GDP, according to the World Bank’s latest available data. Togo's main exports are phosphates (19.2% of total exports in 2023), petroleum oils (12.7%), articles for the conveyance or packaging of goods (6.1%), soya beans (5.6%), and beauty or make-up preparations (5.5%); whereas imports are led by petroleum oils (6.2%), motor cars (4.2%), medicaments (3.8%), polymers of ethylene (3.7%), and palm oil (3.6% - data Comtrade).

Togo’s main export destinations in 2023 were India (22.5%), Burkina Faso (9.2%), Benin (8.4%), Mali (7.8%), Ivory Coast (6.8%), France (6.5%), and Ghana (5.4%); while imports came chiefly from China (19.0%), France (9.0%), India (7.9%), Ghana (4.8%), Türkiye (4.5%), Nigeria (4.2% - data Comtrade). Togo is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), benefiting from regional trade integration and a common external tariff. It is also part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which promotes intra-African trade. Internationally, Togo enjoys preferential access to the European Union (EU) under the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative and the United States (US) through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The country is also a signatory to the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements, supporting trade liberalisation and investment.

Togo’s trade balance is structurally in deficit, a trend that is expected to continue due to the high oil bill and purchases of capital goods. In 2023, total exports stood at USD 1.43 billion against USD 3.2 billion in imports (+6.3% and +5.3% y-o-y, respectively). As per services, exports totalled USD 664 million, slightly above imports (USD 661 million – data WTO). In the same year, the World Bank estimated the country’s trade deficit at 13.6% of its GDP, from 14.3% one year earlier. In the first half of 2024, Togo's export earnings totalled XOF 422 billion, a 0.9% decline from XOF 426 billion in H1 2023, according to INSEED. Imports reached XOF 921 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of nearly XOF 499 billion, slightly widening from XOF 495.4 billion in the same period last year.

 
Foreign Trade Values 20192020202120222023
Imports of Goods (million USD) 2,0912,2602,6763,0413,204
Exports of Goods (million USD) 1,0559791,0601,3481,434
Imports of Services (million USD) 449438445464n/a
Exports of Services (million USD) 610514570548n/a

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Indicators 20192020202120222023
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) 56.155.557.665.561.4
Trade Balance (million USD) -757-744n/an/an/a
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) -596-668n/an/an/a
Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 3.11.614.35.35.8
Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 3.46.08.82.86.8
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 32.332.334.039.937.5
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 23.823.323.625.623.9

Source: World Bank ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Forecasts 20242025 (e)2026 (e)2027 (e)2028 (e)
Volume of exports of goods and services (Annual % change) 6.06.58.67.56.4
Volume of imports of goods and services (Annual % change) 4.45.27.07.27.0

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

 
International Economic Cooperation
Togo is a member of ECOWAS - Economic Community of West African States, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and WTO.
 

Main Partner Countries

Main Customers
(% of Exports)
2023
India 22.5%
Burkina Faso 9.2%
Benin 8.4%
Mali 7.8%
Ivory Coast 6.8%
See More Countries 45.3%
Main Suppliers
(% of Imports)
2023
China 19.0%
France 9.0%
India 7.9%
Ghana 4.8%
Türkiye 4.5%
See More Countries 54.8%

Source: Comtrade, Latest Available Data

 

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Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Faure GNASSINGBE (since 4 May 2005)
Prime Minister: Victoire TOMEGAH Dogbé (since 25 September 2020)
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 2025
National Assembly: April 2030
Main Political Parties
Although political parties operate in Togo, the country remains effectively a one-party dominant state under the leadership of the Union for the Republic (UNIR). In the 2018 elections, UNIR secured a commanding majority by winning 59 out of 91 seats in the unicameral National Assembly. Since then, constitutional reforms have expanded the legislature into a bicameral system, with the National Assembly now consisting of 113 members elected for six-year terms and a newly created Senate providing an additional layer of legislative oversight. Despite these changes, opposition forces—including the social democratic Union of Forces for Change (UFC), as well as smaller parties such as the Patriotic Movement for Democracy and Development, the New Togolese Commitment, and the Pan-African Democratic Party—continue to face significant challenges in gaining real power.
Executive Power
The president is the head of state and is elected by the parliament for a single six-year term. Executive power is exercised by the government, which is led by the President of the Council of Ministers. This position replaces the traditional role of the prime minister and is held by the leader of the party or coalition with a parliamentary majority. The President of the Council of Ministers is responsible for implementing laws, directing government policy, and representing Togo internationally. The Council of Ministers is appointed based on parliamentary majority dynamics. The current constitution does not explicitly detail whether the president retains the power to dissolve the parliament.
Legislative Power
Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Togo has a bicameral legislature, consisting of the National Assembly and the newly established Senate. The National Assembly has 113 members elected every six years through proportional representation in multimember districts. The Senate plays an advisory role, reviewing legislation before the National Assembly makes the final decision. The National Assembly retains its authority to pass laws as the final decision-making body and oversees the government's actions.
 

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