Eritrea — Country Profile

Eritrea — in Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan. Political status: authoritarian. It covers 117,600 sq km. Terrain: dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south trending highlands, descending on the east to a coastal desert plain, on the northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling plains. Climate: hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually, heaviest June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands.

Eritrea’s GDP is $2.534 billion (2024 est.) in purchasing-power-parity terms. At official exchange rates it stands at $2.535 billion (2024 est.). Real GDP grew 5% (2017 est.). See where Eritrea ranks among all 195 countries by GDP.

POWER --/100 — The Magna Power score is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — nine components, 135 indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.

Momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).

No single event defined Jul–Sep 2026. The country's position is the product of long-cycle forces — geography, trade, neighbours — all of which held steady.

Momentum at zero is not stagnation; it is the accurate record of a quarter without a catalyst.

• What our model rewards: unemployment near 5.6% — work for whoever wants it; sits astride Bab el-Mandeb — leverage over the world's trade routes
• What drags it down: public debt above 133% of GDP — the budget's ball and chain; only 11% of electricity from low-carbon sources

Gold, Potash, Zinc, Copper, Salt, Natural gas.

Energy is the physical base of economic power — what a country can generate, move and burn decides what it can build, sell and defend.

Sources: CIA World Factbook, Energy section; Our World in Data (IEA/Ember), 2023.

Trade shows what the world buys from a country and what the country must buy from the world — the balance between the two is a direct measure of economic leverage.

Source: CIA World Factbook, Economy section.

Isaias Afwerki — President. President ISAIAS Afwerki (since 24 May 1993)

Eritrea maintains 29 embassies and 6 consulates abroad, hosts 19 foreign diplomatic missions, holds permanent missions to UN New York, AU Addis Ababa. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.

Source: Consular Affairs Center, Diplomatic and Consular Networks Database and Rankings, January 2026 (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0). https://zenodo.org/records/18109976

Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.

Major airports

Asmara International Airport (ASM) — Asmara.

Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28); theodora.com CIA mirror (CIA World Factbook Transportation section), scraped 2026-10-02

POWER --/100 Ranked #-- of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for Eritrea.

Historical timeline of Eritrea

This profile covers the population, economy, natural resources, leaders, and history of Eritrea — with the Bureau’s live national-power score of --/100, ranking #-- of 195 countries.