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The global shadow economy generates trillions in revenue each year, driven by criminal activity and other unreported transactions.

In low income countries, shadow activity makes up a larger slice of GDP, standing at an estimated 42.4% share. In comparison, this drops to 5.9% of GDP in rich countries, with the UAE seeing the smallest share overall.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows the size of each country’s shadow economy, based on analysis from the Ernst & Young Global Shadow Economy Report 2025.

Defining the Shadow Economy

To start, the shadow economy includes unreported or untaxed activity, making it difficult for authorities to monitor.

This includes illegal enterprises, drug trafficking, street vendors, or cash transactions made off the books. While measuring the informal economy is hard to quantify, it has shrunk from 17.7% of world GDP in 2000 to 11.8% in 2023.

Breaking Down the Shadow Economy by Country

Here are countries with the largest shadow economies as a share of GDP:

Rank	Country	Shadow Economy % of GDP in 2023	Shadow Economy Value	GDP 2023
1	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	64.5	$4.1B	$6.4B
2	🇳🇪 Niger	56.3	$9.5B	$16.8B
3	🇳🇵 Nepal	51.0	$20.9B	$40.9B
4	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	50.2	$80.2B	$159.8B
5	🇧🇮 Burundi	49.2	$2.1B	$4.2B
6	🇲🇱 Mali	46.8	$9.5B	$20.2B
7	🇹🇿 Tanzania	44.7	$35.4B	$79.1B
8	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	43.8	$8.9B	$20.3B
9	🇨🇩 DRC	42.1	$28.2B	$66.9B
10	🇲🇿 Mozambique	39.8	$8.4B	$21.0B
11	🇰🇪 Kenya	38.4	$41.8B	$108.8B
12	🇲🇲 Myanmar	37.9	$24.4B	$64.5B
13	🇿🇲 Zambia	35.6	$10.0B	$28.2B
14	🇵🇰 Pakistan	35.0	$118.1B	$337.5B
15	🇸🇩 Sudan	34.9	$13.3B	$38.1B
16	🇨🇲 Cameroon	33.3	$16.4B	$49.3B
17	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	33.2	$4.0B	$11.9B
18	🇧🇯 Benin	32.9	$6.5B	$19.7B
19	🇨🇬 Congo	32.6	$4.6B	$14.2B
20	🇧🇴 Bolivia	32.1	$14.6B	$45.5B
21	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	31.4	$9.6B	$30.7B
22	🇺🇬 Uganda	31.1	$15.2B	$48.8B
23	🇱🇸 Lesotho	30.9	$0.6B	$2.1B
24	🇲🇼 Malawi	30.9	$3.9B	$12.7B
25	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	30.7	$5.5B	$17.8B
26	🇦🇴 Angola	30.2	$25.6B	$84.8B
27	🇳🇬 Nigeria	30.0	$109.1B	$363.8B
28	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	29.0	$126.8B	$437.4B
29	🇨🇮 Cote d’Ivoire	28.8	$22.7B	$78.9B
30	🇹🇬 Togo	28.1	$2.6B	$9.2B
31	🇦🇱 Albania	27.8	$6.5B	$23.5B
32	🇵🇪 Peru	27.1	$72.5B	$267.6B
33	🇲🇦 Morocco	27.0	$39.0B	$144.4B
34	🇬🇭 Ghana	26.8	$20.5B	$76.4B
35	🇭🇳 Honduras	26.7	$9.2B	$34.4B
36	🇪🇨 Ecuador	26.5	$31.5B	$118.8B
37	🇰🇭 Cambodia	26.4	$11.2B	$42.3B
38	🇿🇦 South Africa	26.3	$100.1B	$380.7B
39	🇮🇳 India	26.1	$931.1B	$3,567.6B
40	🇻🇳 Vietnam	25.1	$107.9B	$429.7B
41	🇮🇶 Iraq	24.8	$62.2B	$250.8B
42	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	24.4	$24.8B	$101.6B
43	🇬🇹 Guatemala	24.3	$25.4B	$104.5B
44	🇩🇿 Algeria	24.2	$59.9B	$247.6B
45	🇹🇭 Thailand	24.0	$123.6B	$515.0B
46	🇮🇩 Indonesia	23.8	$326.3B	$1,371.2B
47	🇬🇦 Gabon	23.1	$4.5B	$19.4B
48	🇮🇷 Iran	22.5	$91.0B	$404.6B
49	🇬🇪 Georgia	22.1	$6.8B	$30.8B
50	🇪🇬 Egypt	21.2	$84.0B	$396.0B
51	🇹🇳 Tunisia	21.2	$10.3B	$48.5B
52	🇨🇴 Colombia	20.9	$76.0B	$363.5B
53	🇵🇾 Paraguay	20.9	$9.0B	$43.0B
54	🇵🇭 Philippines	20.7	$90.5B	$437.1B
55	🇧🇷 Brazil	20.6	$447.8B	$2,173.7B
56	🇨🇳 China	20.3	$3,612.3B	$17,794.8B
57	🇱🇰 SriLanka	20.1	$17.0B	$84.4B
58	🇸🇻 El Salvador	19.9	$6.8B	$34.0B
59	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	19.7	$11.9B	$60.6B
60	🇱🇧 Lebanon	19.6	N/A	N/A
61	🇺🇦 Ukraine	19.3	$34.5B	$178.8B
62	🇦🇲 Armenia	18.9	$4.6B	$24.1B
63	🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina	18.6	$5.1B	$27.5B
64	🇧🇾 Belarus	18.3	$13.2B	$71.9B
65	🇯🇴 Jordan	18.3	$9.3B	$51.0B
66	🇲🇽 Mexico	17.9	$320.2B	$1,789.1B
67	🇦🇷 Argentina	17.8	$115.0B	$646.1B
68	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	17.7	$12.8B	$72.4B
69	🇷🇸 Serbia	17.2	$14.0B	$81.3B
70	🇧🇼 Botswana	17.0	$3.3B	$19.4B
71	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	16.9	$2.7B	$15.8B
72	🇱🇾 Libya	16.3	$7.4B	$45.1B
73	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	16.2	$19.7B	$121.4B
74	🇹🇷 Türkiye	16.1	$180.0B	$1,118.3B
75	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	13.8	$11.9B	$86.5B
76	🇲🇪 Montenegro	13.6	$1.0B	$7.5B
77	🇺🇾 Uruguay	13.5	$10.4B	$77.2B
78	🇷🇴 Romania	13.1	$46.0B	$350.8B
79	🇷🇺 Russia	13.1	$264.8B	$2,021.4B
80	🇲🇾 Malaysia	12.3	$49.2B	$399.7B
81	🇵🇦 Panama	12.1	$10.1B	$83.3B
82	🇬🇷 Greece	12.0	$29.2B	$243.5B
83	🇨🇱 Chile	11.9	$39.9B	$335.5B
84	🇬🇾 Guyana	11.8	$2.0B	$17.2B
85	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	11.2	$29.4B	$262.6B
86	🇲🇺 Mauritius	10.6	$1.5B	$14.6B
87	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	10.5	$10.8B	$102.4B
88	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	10.3	$12.1B	$117.9B
89	🇵🇱 Poland	9.7	$78.5B	$809.2B
90	🇭🇷 Croatia	9.3	$7.8B	$84.4B
91	🇱🇻 Latvia	9.3	$3.9B	$42.2B
92	🇵🇹 Portugal	9.3	$26.9B	$289.1B
93	🇭🇺 Hungary	9.2	$19.5B	$212.4B
94	🇸🇰 Slovak Republic	8.9	$11.8B	$132.9B
95	🇳🇿 New Zealand	8.2	$20.7B	$252.2B
96	🇸🇮 Slovenia	8.0	$5.5B	$69.1B
97	🇮🇹 Italy	7.8	$179.5B	$2,300.9B
98	🇮🇸 Iceland	7.6	$2.4B	$31.3B
99	🇰🇷 Korea	7.6	$130.2B	$1,712.8B
100	🇲🇹 Malta	7.5	$1.7B	$22.3B
101	🇪🇸 Spain	7.5	$121.5B	$1,620.1B
102	🇪🇪 Estonia	7.4	$3.1B	$41.3B
103	🇱🇹 Lithuania	7.4	$5.9B	$79.8B
104	🇩🇪 Germany	6.8	$307.7B	$4,525.7B
105	🇫🇷 France	6.7	$204.5B	$3,051.8B
106	🇯🇵 Japan	6.7	$281.7B	$4,204.5B
107	🇸🇪 Sweden	6.7	$39.2B	$585.0B
108	🇦🇹 Austria	6.6	$33.8B	$511.7B
109	🇧🇪 Belgium	6.6	$42.6B	$644.8B
110	🇫🇮 Finland	6.6	$19.5B	$295.5B
111	🇨🇿 Czechia	6.5	$22.3B	$343.2B
112	🇳🇴 Norway	6.4	$31.1B	$485.3B
113	🇴🇲 Oman	6.4	$7.0B	$108.8B
114	🇳🇱 Netherlands	6.3	$72.7B	$1,154.4B
115	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	6.1	$5.2B	$85.8B
116	🇩🇰 Denmark	5.9	$24.0B	$407.1B
117	🇦🇺 Australia	5.7	$98.5B	$1,728.1B
118	🇮🇱 Israel	5.5	$28.2B	$513.6B
119	🇧🇸 Bahamas	5.4	$0.8B	$14.3B
120	🇨🇾 Cyprus	5.3	$1.8B	$33.9B
121	🇬🇧 UK	5.3	$179.2B	$3,380.9B
122	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	5.2	$55.5B	$1,067.6B
123	🇮🇪 Ireland	5.1	$28.1B	$551.4B
124	🇨🇭 Switzerland	5.1	$45.1B	$884.9B
125	🇺🇸 United States	5.0	$1,386.0B	$27,720.7B
126	🇨🇦 Canada	4.5	$96.4B	$2,142.5B
127	🇰🇼 Kuwait	4.0	$6.5B	$163.7B
128	🇸🇬 Singapore	3.4	$17.0B	$501.4B
129	🇧🇭 Bahrain	2.5	$1.2B	$46.1B
130	🇶🇦 Qatar	2.2	$4.7B	$213.0B
131	🏳️ UAE	2.1	$10.8B	$514.1B

As we can see, Sierra Leone ranks first overall, with its shadow economy equaling 64.5% of GDP.

Like many other sub-Saharan African countries, the informal economy employs millions of workers, including subsistence farmers, street vendors, and small business owners. Underscoring this trend are limited opportunities in the formal sector along with bureaucratic red tape.

In particular, the DRC stands out in both the scale of its informal economy and prevalence of organized crime.

Meanwhile, Nepal ranks third overall, with shadow activity accounting for 51% of GDP. Notably, the agriculture sector employs a substantial share of informal workers. In fact, 85% of Nepal’s labor force participates in the informal economy, making it a vital source of livelihood for many.

In contrast, America’s underground economy comprises just 5% of GDP, yet its sheer size—valued at $1.4 trillion—makes it one of the world’s largest.

To learn more about this topic from a violent crime perspective, check out this graphic on violent crime rates by U.S. state.