Ethiopia
Ethiopia is a eastern African country of roughly 135.5M people, covering 1,104,300 km² with its capital at Addis Ababa. Its economy is worth about $164B in nominal terms, anchored by coffee, aviation, manufacturing.
- Population
- 135.5M
- Projected population, 2026
Source: UN World Population Prospects - Capital
- Addis Ababa
- GDP
- $164B
- Area
- 1,104,300 km²
- Currency
- Birr
Map
Overview
Ethiopia is a eastern African country of roughly 135.5M people, covering 1,104,300 km² with its capital at Addis Ababa. Its economy is worth about $164B in nominal terms, anchored by coffee, aviation, manufacturing.
Government
Ethiopia operates as a federal republic. Independence: Never colonised. Executive, legislative and judicial functions are exercised from Addis Ababa.
Economy
Nominal GDP is approximately $164B, or around $1,211 per capita. The currency in circulation is the Birr. Leading sectors are coffee, aviation, manufacturing.
Population
Ethiopia has a projected population, 2026 of 135,479,286 people (United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects 2024 Revision, Online Edition — medium variant), a density of roughly 123 people per km². Values from 2024 onwards are medium-variant projections rather than live counts.
Cities
The largest urban centres are Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Mekelle. Addis Ababa serves as the seat of government.
History
Modern Ethiopia took shape through pre-colonial states, the colonial partition of the late nineteenth century, and independence in Never colonised. Our History section covers each period in depth.
Languages
Widely used languages include Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya. Official-language policy shapes schooling, courts and broadcasting.
Culture
Music, cuisine, film, textiles and sport in Ethiopia form part of a fast-growing creative economy with an expanding export footprint.
Education
Primary enrolment is near-universal in most of the region; the constraints sit at secondary completion, technical training and higher-education funding.
Healthcare
Health spending across Africa averages about 5.7% of GDP. Ethiopia's system combines public facilities, private providers and donor-funded programmes.
Business
Company registration, tax administration and access to finance are the practical determinants of doing business in Ethiopia. See our Business section for sector reporting.
Investment
Investors typically look at coffee, infrastructure and consumer services. Regulatory clarity and FX access are the recurring diligence questions.
Tourism
Visitors come for landscape, heritage and city life. Entry requirements, seasonality and internal transport are covered in our Travel guides.
Transportation
Road remains dominant; rail, ports and aviation capacity vary sharply and are the focus of most current infrastructure investment.
Infrastructure
Electricity access, broadband coverage and logistics quality are the three infrastructure metrics most closely tied to Ethiopia's growth outlook.
Statistics
Full time series for population, GDP, trade, inflation, internet usage, education, health, tourism, agriculture and climate are published in The360Africa Data Center.
Frequently asked questions
Related articles
Africa's single market, five years in: what actually changed
The AfCFTA promised one market of 1.4 billion people. We audited tariff schedules, port data and trade flows to see where the promise is landing.
The Lagos–Abidjan corridor is becoming West Africa's spine
A 1,000km highway, four borders and a customs union in progress. Inside the most consequential infrastructure project in the region.
African fintech's consolidation decade has begun
Funding is down, licences are harder, and the winners are buying. A map of the acquisitions reshaping payments across seven markets.
Everything Africa, in your inbox
One weekly digest of the reporting, research and data that matters. No noise, no filler, unsubscribe in one click.