Country profile · East Asia & Pacific · High income

New Caledonia

Every figure below carries its global rank and its history — and a plain line on what the number means. Figures: World Bank, World Development Indicators (open data), retrieved 2026-07-27.

At a glance

Latest available year per indicator

GDP · 2024

$8.5 bn

161st largest of 214

The size of the economy — everything produced in a year. The headline number every other figure argues with.

GDP growth · 2024

-13.5%

214th fastest-growing of 214

How fast output is expanding, inflation-adjusted. Growth without jobs or wages is where the story usually hides.

GDP per capita · 2024

$29,213

58th highest of 214

Output per person — the rough proxy for average living standards, and an average that hides a lot.

Inflation (CPI) · 2016

0.6%

165th highest of 193

How fast consumer prices rise. What it understates for poorer households is half the story.

Unemployment · 2025

11.2%

32nd highest of 187

The share of the labour force seeking work without finding it — and it counts precarious work as 'employed'.

Population · 2025

295,333

178th largest of 217

The denominator of everything per-capita.

Exports · 2024

11.7%

179th highest of 193

How much of the economy is sold to the world — openness, measured on the way out.

Imports · 2024

28.7%

148th highest of 193

How much of demand is met from abroad — openness, measured on the way in.

FDI, net inflows · 2024

8.5%

25th highest of 202

Long-term foreign investment into real assets — a confidence signal that is hard to fake and slow to reverse.

Total reserves

No recent data reported

The central bank's war chest for defending the currency and paying for imports.

Current account · 2016

-7.5%

161st highest of 200

The broadest external balance — trade plus income and remittances. Persistent deficits must be financed.

Government debt

No recent data reported

What the state owes relative to the economy carrying it. Reported patchily — gaps here are common.

Exchange rate · 2025

105.9

65th highest of 213

How many units of local currency a dollar buys — a running vote of confidence.

Gini index

No recent data reported

Inequality in one number: 0 is perfect equality, 100 is one person holding everything. Surveyed rarely.

Life expectancy · 2024

78.9

60th highest of 217

The single most honest summary of whether an economy serves its people.

Extreme poverty

No recent data reported

The share of people living below the international extreme-poverty line — the floor beneath every other economic statistic.

What these indicators can — and cannot — tell you: Economics, Explained

The long view

1990 – latest

GDPcurrent US$
02bn4bn6bn8bn10bn1990199520002005201020152020
GDP per capitacurrent US$
010k20k30k1990199520002005201020152020
GDP growthannual %
-10-5051990199520002005201020152020
Inflation (CPI)annual %
00.511.52201120122013201420152016

Put New Caledonia next to any other economy — open the comparison desk — or see where it sits on the world heat map.