The World Bank Group today released The Gambia Economic Update: Learning Without Earning: Women’s Educational Gains and Labor Market Constraints in The Gambia, together with the Public Finance Review (PFR) titled Creating Fiscal Space to Sustain Growth and Boost Job Creation. The two analytical reports assess the country’s economic performance, fiscal trajectory and reform priorities and make the case that stronger public finances and women’s economic empowerment are essential to generating the jobs The Gambia’s young and growing population urgently needs.
Economic growth remained steady, rising modestly from 5.6% in 2024 to an estimated 5.9% in 2025, driven by strong performance across agriculture, industry, and services. Tourism continued to recover, with arrivals rising from 224,472 to 233,113, while remittances and easing inflation supported household incomes.
Extreme poverty declined from 21.5% to 20.3%. The key challenge now is translating growth into jobs, with 81% of workers in the informal sector and 41.3% of youth (15–34) not in employment, education, or training—highlighting significant untapped potential. Downside risks include rising global oil prices, increasing energy subsidy costs, and higher fertilizer prices that could affect agricultural gains.
A special focus in the report shows that although girls outperform boys at primary and lower-secondary levels, this has yet to translate into labor market outcomes. Women’s participation remains low (41.9% vs. 54.9% for men), most work informally (78.1%), and they earn less (31.5 GMD/hour vs. 42.4), with wider gaps in rural areas. Key barriers include limited access to education, heavy care burdens, restricted access to land and finance, and social norms. The report calls for stronger school-to-work pathways, improved land and property rights for women, and expanded access to finance and childcare—emphasizing that closing the education-to-employment gap is a high-return priority.
“The Gambia’s economic momentum is real and reflects the government’s commitment to reform including its efforts to crowd in private sector investment” said Franklin Mutahakana, World Bank Group Resident Representative for The Gambia. “Sustaining and building on this progress means seizing the structural opportunities that these reports clearly identify — accelerating job creation, strengthening domestic revenues, and building a more inclusive economy where women and young people can fully contribute.”
The Public Finance Review finds that despite progress since the 2017 democratic transition, including average annual GDP growth of 5%, fiscal vulnerabilities remain. Tax revenue averaged just 10.3% of GDP from 2017 to 2024, below the 15% benchmark needed to support basic government functions, while fiscal deficits averaged 4.5% of GDP. Public debt, though declining, is still high at about 76.4% of GDP in 2025, leaving the country at high risk of debt distress.
The review estimates that closing gaps across key tax instruments could unlock 3–4% of GDP in revenue, creating fiscal space for infrastructure, services, and jobs.
The review also recommends stronger public investment management, clearing domestic arrears, and bringing off-budget donor projects into national systems. It calls for replacing broad subsidies with targeted support for vulnerable groups. Wage bill reforms in hiring, allowances, and payroll modernization could save 2.6% of GDP between 2025 and 2029 for investment in infrastructure, social services, and jobs.
“The Gambia has demonstrated that it can reform and grow at the same time. The PFR shows that the fiscal space needed to invest in infrastructure, services, and people is within reach, if the country can accelerate reforms to enhance domestic revenue mobilization and public spending efficiency,” said Ephrem Niyongabo, World Bank Group Economist and Task Team Lead for the report.
The two reports point to a coherent reform agenda centered on three priorities: broadening the tax base and digitizing revenue administration to unlock the fiscal space The Gambia needs; replacing generalized subsidies with targeted transfers to protect the most vulnerable while reducing fiscal pressures; and fully operationalizing the 2023 State-Owned Enterprises Act to improve transparency and reduce fiscal risks.
Contacts:
In Banjul: Haddy Jonga, hjonga@worldbank.org
To learn more about the World Bank’s work in The Gambia: https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/country/gambia
For more information, visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/western-and-central-africa
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Press Release
2026/075/AFW
