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Cambodia

GDP/capita CAGR
6.9%
Unemployment (2025)
0.3%
Gini index (n/a)
n/a
CO2/capita (2024)
1.1 t

Cambodia: strong, sustained growth, 1980–2025

Garment and footwear manufacturing exports, alongside tourism (notably Angkor Wat) and construction, drove one of Southeast Asia's fastest growth rates in the 2000s and 2010s from a low post-Khmer-Rouge base. Between 1980 and 2025, Cambodia's GDP per capita grew from $143 to $2,872 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 6.9% — strong, sustained growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 5.6% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 7.4 points, reflecting considerable volatility and periodic crises. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 45.3% to 16.1% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 39.4% to 35.0% of GDP, a comparatively unusual pattern for this period. On human development, life expectancy rose from 47.5 to 70.8 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 0.1% to 21.4%, while the urban population share grew from 12.7% to 41.1%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 0.06 to 1.10 tonnes CO2e per person.

What it trades

Top exported and imported products, approximate share of total trade value.

Top exports

1
Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted24.8%
2
Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted11.6%
3
Articles of leather; saddlery and harness; travel goods, handbags and similar containers; articles ...6.9%
4
Footwear, gaiters and the like; parts of such articles6.7%
5
Rubber and articles thereof6.6%
6
Cereals5.1%
7
Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings; ...5.0%
8
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television ...4.6%
9
Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad ...3.9%
10
Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons3.8%

Top imports

1
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral ...10.5%
2
Knitted or crocheted fabrics9.6%
3
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television ...8.5%
4
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof7.8%
5
Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof7.6%
6
Plastics and articles thereof4.6%
7
Man-made staple fibres4.0%
8
Articles of iron or steel3.5%
9
Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard2.9%
10
Iron and steel2.7%

Events shaping this economy

Central bank perspective

Why the charts below look the way they do, drawing on the country’s own central bank and monetary authority.

Leading companies in Cambodia

ACLEDA Bank · BankingCanadia Bank · BankingABA Bank · BankingRoyal Group · ConglomerateCambrew · Consumer

Macroeconomic

GDP growth
% annual
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GDP per capita
current US$
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Inflation (CPI)
% annual
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Unemployment
% of labor force
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Government debt
% of GDP
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Exports
% of GDP
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Imports
% of GDP
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Foreign direct investment, net inflows
% of GDP
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Current account balance
% of GDP
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Government expenditure
% of GDP
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Structural & Microeconomic

Agriculture, value added
% of GDP
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Industry, value added
% of GDP
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Services, value added
% of GDP
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Labor force participation
% of population 15+
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Gini index (inequality)
index (0-100)
Data not available for Cambodia
Poverty headcount ratio
% of population
Data not available for Cambodia

Education & Development

Tertiary school enrollment
% gross
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Adult literacy rate
% of people 15+
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Education spending
% of GDP
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Primary pupil-teacher ratio
pupils per teacher
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Life expectancy at birth
years
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Urban population
% of total
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Total population
people
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Environmental Cost

CO2 emissions per capita
t CO2e per capita
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