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Photo: Photo taken by Government of Kiribati employee in the course of their work · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 02 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Kiribati: Economy & Innovation
What does an economy do for the people inside it?
Kiribati is placed 162nd of 176 countries on economy & innovation in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: GDP per Capita (PPP) 3,364 (2025); Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of Credit 16.11 (2025).
Economy & Innovation
162nd
of 176 countries placed
Placed from 2 of 4 key statistics
Not placed in the Country Index 2026 overall: measured on too few topics.
- 3,364GDP per Capita (PPP), 2025GDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP)
- 16.11Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of Credit, 2025Firms with a bank loan or line of credit (%)
- —Economic Complexity Index, 2024No reading for this country
- —Account Ownership at a Financial Institution, 2024No reading for this country
01The evidence
The 4 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Kiribati on economy & innovation — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used — or, for a survey-based key, each country’s latest reading; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 4
GDP per Capita (PPP)
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: Output per person: the standard measure of an economy's size set against the population it has to support.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY 4.0
3,364
GDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP)
Higher is better
Kiribati: 3,364. Across the 185 countries in this edition, values run from 1,067 (Burundi) to 139,593 (Singapore); the world median is 17,265.
- World median
- 17,265
- Best in Micronesia
- 19,699 Palau
Each grey tick is one of 185 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 2 of 4
Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of Credit
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: Whether businesses can borrow from the formal financial system — the firm-level counterpart to adults holding a bank account.
Latest reading per country, 2016–2025 · Kiribati’s is from 2025 · CC BY 4.0
16.11
Firms with a bank loan or line of credit (%)
Higher is better
Kiribati: 16.11. Across the 179 countries at their latest reading, values run from 2.113 (Pakistan) to 88.52 (Israel); the world median is 35.95.
- World median
- 35.95
- Best in Micronesia
- 43.02 Micronesia
Each grey tick is one of 179 countries at its latest reading, 2016–2025.
Key 3 of 4
Economic Complexity Index
Growth Lab at Harvard University
Why it is a key: What an economy knows how to make, read from the diversity and rarity of what it exports.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC0 1.0
No reading
ECI score (standardised, roughly −3 to +3)
Higher is better
Growth Lab at Harvard University publishes no 2024 figure for Kiribati, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 145 countries in this edition, values run from -3.53 (Chad) to 1.729 (Japan); the world median is 0.131.
- World median
- 0.131
Each grey tick is one of 145 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 4 of 4
Account Ownership at a Financial Institution
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: Whether ordinary adults are inside the financial system at all, which output per person does not reveal.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
No reading
Adults with an account (% of population aged 15+)
Higher is better
World Bank Group publishes no 2024 figure for Kiribati, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 139 countries in this edition, values run from 14.83 (Niger) to 99.85 (Iceland); the world median is 72.83.
- World median
- 72.83
Each grey tick is one of 139 countries in the 2024 edition.
02Over time
Which way Kiribati is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
GDP per Capita (PPP)
GDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP) · higher is better
KiribatiWorld median
Kiribati rose from 2,482 in 2000 to 3,364 in 2025; the world median went from 10,589 to 17,265.
Every year’s figures
Year Kiribati World median 2025 3,364 17,265 2024 3,275 18,108 2023 3,175 17,686 2022 3,127 16,933 2021 3,024 16,260 2020 2,839 15,631 2019 2,927 16,761 2018 2,875 16,349 2017 2,822 16,129 2016 2,762 15,512 2015 2,616 14,857 2014 2,382 14,475 2013 2,383 14,681 2012 2,242 14,631 2011 2,151 13,916 2010 2,120 14,101 2009 2,138 13,655 2008 2,173 14,030 2007 2,287 13,755 2006 2,264 12,983 2005 2,184 12,023 2004 2,200 11,608 2003 2,258 11,183 2002 2,342 11,144 2001 2,358 10,907 2000 2,482 10,589
03In context
Kiribati beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 176 countries on economy & innovation, never a place within the region.
1st176thNot placed · 48 countries with too few key statisticsNo data
Kiribati and Micronesia
Kiribati has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. The standing is each country’s place among all 176 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | GDP per Capita (PPP)GDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP) | Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of CreditFirms with a bank loan or line of credit (%) | Economic Complexity IndexECI score (standardised, roughly −3 to +3) | Account Ownership at a Financial InstitutionAdults with an account (% of population aged 15+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiribati | 162nd | 3,364 | 16.11 | — | — |
 Guam | not placed | — | — | — | — |
 Marshall Islands | not placed | 7,660 | — | — | — |
 Micronesia | not placed | 3,935 | 43.02 | — | — |
 Nauru | not placed | 12,135 | — | — | — |
 Northern Mariana Islands | not placed | — | — | — | — |
 Palau | not placed | 19,699 | — | — | — |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Micronesia
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 176.
Placed either side on economy & innovation
The countries immediately above and below Kiribati in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Kiribati is ahead of the world, and behind
15 more statistics filed under economy & innovation, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median6
Statistics on which Kiribati does better than the middle country measured.
Income Share Held by Lowest 20%World Bank Group · 2023 · world median 7.1210.197.12▲ Improved since 2019
Kiribati: 10.19 · world median 7.12 · Share of national income held by the poorest fifth (%). World Bank Group, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 3.24 to 11.07; higher is better.
Position 2nd of 60 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Gini IndexWorld Bank Group · 2023 · world median 33.7224.7433.72▲ Improved since 2019
Kiribati: 24.74 · world median 33.72 · Gini index (0 = perfect equality, 100 = perfect inequality). World Bank Group, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 23 to 54.58; lower is better.
Position 57th of 60 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Income Share Held by Richest 10%World Bank Group · 2023 · world median 26.1820.9126.18▲ Improved since 2019
Kiribati: 20.91 · world median 26.18 · Share of national income or consumption held by the richest tenth (%). World Bank Group, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 18.79 to 43.08; lower is better.
Position 57th of 60 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Palma RatioWorld Bank Group · 2023 · world median 1.3320.8491.332▲ Improved since 2019
Kiribati: 0.849 · world median 1.332 · Palma ratio (income share of the richest 10% ÷ share of the poorest 40%). World Bank Group, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.771 to 4.193; lower is better.
Position 57th of 60 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
GDP GrowthWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 3.3964.2223.396▼ Worsened since 2015
Kiribati: 4.222 · world median 3.396 · GDP growth (annual %). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -5.847 to 19.34; higher is better.
Position 67th of 186 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Livestock Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 107.06112.73107.06▲ Improved since 2012
Kiribati: 112.73 · world median 107.06 · Livestock production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 35.52 to 190.08; higher is better.
Position 76th of 194 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Behind the world median6
Statistics on which Kiribati does worse than the middle country measured.
Regulatory QualityWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median -0.093-0.419-0.093▲ Improved since 2015
Kiribati: -0.419 · world median -0.093 · Regulatory Quality (−2.5 to 2.5). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -2.106 to 2.113; higher is better.
Position 132nd of 209 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Crop Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 106.2395.75106.23▼ Worsened since 2012
Kiribati: 95.75 · world median 106.23 · Crop production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 53.79 to 189.93; higher is better.
Position 149th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Government AI Readiness IndexOxford Insights · 2025 · world median 40.1923.940.19▲ Improved since 2020
Kiribati: 23.9 · world median 40.19 · AI readiness score (0–100). Oxford Insights, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 12.12 to 88.36; higher is better.
Ranked 150th of 195 by Oxford Insights.
Food Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 106.0897.32106.08▼ Worsened since 2012
Kiribati: 97.32 · world median 106.08 · Food production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 71.08 to 177.49; higher is better.
Position 158th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Liner Shipping Connectivity IndexUNCTAD · 2026 · world median 56.2115.4656.21No real change since 2016
Kiribati: 15.46 · world median 56.21 · LSCI (index, average Q1 2023 = 100). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2026 edition, data for 2026.
Published values in that edition run from 4.13 to 1,319; higher is better.
Ranked 151st of 175 by UNCTAD.
Digitally-Deliverable Services ExportsUNCTAD · 2024 · world median 25.425.22725.42▼ Worsened since 2014
Kiribati: 5.227 · world median 25.42 · Digitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.377 to 87.15; higher is better.
Position 155th of 170 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No better end3
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Foreign Direct Investment InflowsUNCTAD · 2025 · world median 1.9681.1961.968Moved since 2015
Kiribati: 1.196 · world median 1.968 · FDI inflows (% of GDP). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -32.97 to 2,221.
Total Natural Resources Rents (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2021 · world median 1.7080.0441.708No real change since 2011
Kiribati: 0.044 · world median 1.708 · Natural resources rents (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2021 edition, data for 2021.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 61.03.
Position 159th of 180 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Gross Savings (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2024 · world median 22.0612.8522.06Moved since 2014
Kiribati: 12.85 · world median 22.06 · Gross savings (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from -21.13 to 47.82.
Position 125th of 146 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No current reading for Kiribati
Account Ownership at a Financial Institution, Adjusted Net Savings, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP) (last 2024), Business Ready: Operational Efficiency, Business Ready: Public Services, Business Ready: Regulatory Framework, Container Port Traffic (last 2019), Debt Service on External Debt, Economic Complexity Index, Exports of Goods and Services (% of GDP) (last 2024), External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), General Government Consumption (last 2024), Global Innovation Index, GNI per Capita (PPP) (last 2024), Gross Capital Formation (% of GDP) (last 2024), Household Consumption (last 2024), ICT Goods Exports (last 2021), ICT Services Exports (last 2021), Imports of Goods and Services (% of GDP) (last 2024), Industry Value Added including Construction (% of GDP) (last 2024), Logistics Performance Index, Manufacturing Value Added (% of GDP) (last 2024), Research and Development Spending, Researchers per Million Inhabitants, Tariff Rate, Applied, Weighted Mean, All Products, Trade (% of GDP) (last 2024) and World Energy Trilemma Index. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Economy & Innovation among Kiribati’s 11 topics
Economy & Innovation is Kiribati’s 11th best-placed topic of 11. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Poverty & Inequality12th of 1592/2 keys
- Democracy & Civil Liberties16th of 1982/3 keys
- Gender & Equality47th of 1832/4 keys
- Energy106th of 1932/3 keys
- Risk & Resilience108th of 1923/3 keys
- Education & Knowledge108th of 1714/4 keys
- Development & Human Capital139th of 1963/3 keys
- Health & Wellbeing142nd of 2004/4 keys
- Governance & Institutions157th of 1942/4 keys
- Digital & Technologyjoint 175th of 1983/3 keys
- Economy & Innovation162nd of 1762/4 keys
No standing on Work & Labour, Environment & Sustainability, Peace & Security, Mobility & Trade, Food & Agriculture: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
Who leads on economy & innovation
The three countries placed highest of 176, and the leaders Kiribati can most readily be measured against.
1
AustriaWestern Europe
1st of 176 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0, greyscale
2
JapanEastern Asia
2nd of 176 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: JurriaanH · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3
GermanyWestern Europe
3rd of 176 · 4 of 4 keys
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Oceania
Australia27th4/4 keysThis page
Kiribati162nd2/4 keys
Positions out of 176 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Analysis
Charts and analysis about Kiribati and economy & innovation
On economy & innovation
China Leads Global High-Technology Exports
The world’s ten largest high-technology exporters as a treemap, with the rest of the world beside them. Each country’s figure is its own most recent year, between 2022 and 2024.
On economy & innovation
India vs Pakistan 2025: Comparison of Hunger Index, Happiness, HDI, Rule of Law, Literacy & GDP
India and Pakistan on six published measures: hunger, happiness, human development, rule of law, literacy and GDP per capita. India is the better placed on five of them; Pakistan on one.
On economy & innovation
Countries in Asia with the highest average salaries 2024
Thirteen Asian countries by gross average monthly wage, each carrying its WORLD rank rather than an Asian one — so the numbers skip, from 11th place to 45th.
08Questions
Kiribati on economy & innovation: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Kiribati rank on economy & innovation?
Kiribati is placed 162nd of 176 countries on Economy & Innovation in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 4 key statistics (GDP per Capita (PPP) and Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of Credit). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest GDP per Capita (PPP) figure for Kiribati?
3,364 in 2025 (gDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 17,265.
What is the latest Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of Credit figure for Kiribati?
16.11 in 2025 (firms with a bank loan or line of credit (%)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 35.95.
How have Kiribati’s economy & innovation figures changed?
GDP per Capita (PPP) rose from 2,482 in 2000 to 3,364 in 2025.
Which economy & innovation statistics are missing for Kiribati?
No current reading is published for Kiribati on Account Ownership at a Financial Institution, Adjusted Net Savings, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP), Business Ready: Operational Efficiency, Business Ready: Public Services, Business Ready: Regulatory Framework, Container Port Traffic, Debt Service on External Debt, Economic Complexity Index, Exports of Goods and Services (% of GDP), External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), General Government Consumption, Global Innovation Index, GNI per Capita (PPP), Gross Capital Formation (% of GDP), Household Consumption, ICT Goods Exports, ICT Services Exports, Imports of Goods and Services (% of GDP), Industry Value Added including Construction (% of GDP), Logistics Performance Index, Manufacturing Value Added (% of GDP), Research and Development Spending, Researchers per Million Inhabitants, Tariff Rate, Applied, Weighted Mean, All Products, Trade (% of GDP) and World Energy Trilemma Index. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
09Keep reading
Explore further
Kiribati, topic by topic
- Governance & Institutions157th of 194
- Education & Knowledge108th of 171
- Health & Wellbeing142nd of 200
- Development & Human Capital139th of 196
- Gender & Equality47th of 183
- Democracy & Civil Liberties16th of 198
- Risk & Resilience108th of 192
- Poverty & Inequality12th of 159
- Energy106th of 193
- Digital & Technology=175th of 198
- The full Kiribati profile
Nearby, on economy & innovation
The key statistics, for every country
10Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
The total size of an economy is deliberately left out: a very large economy spread over a very large population is not doing more for each person. Growth rates, trade shares and the structure of output (how much is farming, industry or services) are published here as context, because they describe an economy's shape rather than how well it serves people. Jobs and wages have their own topic, Work & Labour.
How the Economy & Innovation standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 4 indicators on this topic are keys and 40 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2024 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 2 of this topic’s 4 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 176 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 4.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- GDP per Capita (PPP) — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of Credit — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Economic Complexity Index — Growth Lab at Harvard University, CC0 1.0
- Account Ownership at a Financial Institution — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
The other 15 statistics on this page come from 4 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Kiribati’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Kiribati (banner) — Photo taken by Government of Kiribati employee in the course of their work, CC BY 3.0
- Austria — chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Japan — JurriaanH, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Germany — dronepicr, CC BY 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Kiribati: Economy & Innovation — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/kiribati/economy