São Tomé and Príncipe Capital São Tomé
Currency STN · São Tomé and Príncipe dobra
Language Portuguese
Area 960 km²
Since 1975
ISO STP · ST
Population 240,254 as of 2025
Watermark portrait: Evaristo Carvalho — THE COUNTRY —
Island country in Central Africa
São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, about 81 nautical miles apart and about 135 and 121 nautical miles off the northwestern coast of Gabon. With a population of 201,800, São Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest and second-least populous African sovereign state after Seychelles.
Text: Wikipedia — São Tomé and Príncipe CC BY-SA 4.0 · revised 2026-07-24
Capital São Tomé
Currency São Tomé and Príncipe dobra (STN)
Official language Portuguese
Drives on the Right
Calling code +239
Top-level domain .st
Independence / founding 12 Jul 1975
Highest point Pico de São Tomé (2,024 m)
Lowest point Atlantic Ocean (0 m)
Anthem Independência total Facts: Wikidata (CC0) · as of 2026-08-02 — LAND —
Land covered by forest
52.1% % of land area
#47 of 213 2023
Forest area
500 km²
#165 of 213 2023
Agricultural land
44.8% % of land area
#79 of 209 2023
Farmable (arable) land
4.2% % of land area
#146 of 206 2023
Land area
960 km²
#178 of 215 2023
— PEOPLE —
Population
240,254 people
#181 of 216 2025
Population growth
2.0% % per year
#51 of 216 2025
Population density
240 people per km²
#55 of 215 2023
People living in cities
69.2% % of population
#94 of 216 2025
Urban population growth
2.4% % per year
#59 of 216 2025
People living rurally
30.8% % of population
#123 of 216 2025
Population aged 0-14
37.5% % of population
#39 of 216 2025
Population aged 15-64
58.6% % of population
#179 of 216 2025
Population aged 65+
3.9% % of population
#167 of 216 2025
▸ ISSUE 7 MORE Age dependency ratio
70.6% % of working-age population
#38 of 216 2025
Female population
50.3% % of population
#113 of 216 2025
Births per woman
4 births per woman
#39 of 216 2024
Birth rate
28.1 /1,000 per 1,000 people
#38 of 216 2024
Death rate
5.5 /1,000 per 1,000 people
#176 of 216 2024
Net migration
-650 people (5-year total)
#104 of 216 2025
Migrants living in the country
0.8% % of population
#181 of 215 2024
— MONEY —
GDP
$981.3M current US$
#201 of 211 2025
GDP, purchasing power parity
current int'l $
2025
GDP per person
$4,084 current US$
#149 of 211 2025
GDP per person, purchasing power parity
$6,388 current int'l $
#158 of 199 2025
GDP growth
1.0% % per year
#172 of 210 2025
GDP per person growth
-1.0% % per year
#193 of 210 2025
Gross national income
current US$
2025
Gross national income per person
$3,800 current US$
#144 of 203 2025
Gross national income per person, PPP
$6,920 current int'l $
#153 of 197 2025
▸ ISSUE 26 MORE Inflation
11.0% % per year
#168 of 190 2025
Inflation (GDP deflator)
11.9% % per year
#184 of 209 2025
Real interest rate
0.1% %
#112 of 134 2024
Lending interest rate
17.8% %
#19 of 134 2024
Government consumption
10.3% % of GDP
#155 of 181 2025
Household consumption
% of GDP
2025
Investment (gross capital formation)
% of GDP
2025
Fixed investment
% of GDP
2025
Gross savings
9.0% % of GDP
#153 of 168 2024
Foreign investment inflows
-$16.7M current US$
#181 of 201 2024
Foreign investment inflows
% of GDP
2024
Foreign investment outflows
0.5% % of GDP
#80 of 179 2024
Current account balance
5.0% % of GDP
#36 of 191 2024
Foreign reserves
current US$
2024
External debt
current US$
2024
Income inequality (Gini)
41 0-100
#118 of 147 2017
People below the poverty line
13.0% % of population
#109 of 147 2017
Income share held by richest 10%
32.8% %
#123 of 147 2017
Income share held by poorest 10%
2.6% %
#92 of 147 2017
Money sent home by workers abroad
$80.1M current US$
#159 of 186 2024
Foreign aid received
11.5% % of GNI
#21 of 137 2023
Exchange rate
23 local currency per US$
#92 of 211 2024
Agriculture's share of the economy
12.2% % of GDP
#62 of 199 2025
Industry's share of the economy
% of GDP
2025
Manufacturing's share of the economy
% of GDP
2025
Services' share of the economy
% of GDP
2025
4 of 39 figures unavailable for São Tomé and Príncipe.
— TRADE —
Exports
13.3% % of GDP
#170 of 187 2025
Imports
33.3% % of GDP
#125 of 187 2025
Trade balance
-20.0% % of GDP
#153 of 187 2025
Total trade (openness)
22.5% % of GDP
#195 of 205 2025
Goods exported
$38.0M current US$
#193 of 207 2025
Goods imported
current US$
2025
Services exported
$88.2M current US$
#179 of 191 2024
Services imported
current US$
2024
Goods and services exported
current US$
2024
▸ ISSUE 3 MORE Goods and services imported
current US$
2024
High-tech share of exports
29.3% % of manufactured exports
#18 of 179 2023
Terms of trade
130 index
#25 of 206 2024
— HEALTH —
Life expectancy
69.9 yrs years
#154 of 216 2024
Life expectancy, women
73.9 yrs years
#145 of 216 2024
Life expectancy, men
66.4 yrs years
#161 of 216 2024
Infant deaths
9.2 /1,000 per 1,000 live births
#80 of 196 2024
Deaths under age 5
13.6 /1,000 per 1,000 live births
#95 of 196 2024
Maternal deaths
75 per 100,000 live births
#119 of 194 2023
Health spending
5.8% % of GDP
#109 of 193 2023
Health spending per person
$171 current US$
#133 of 193 2023
Physicians
0.5 /1,000 per 1,000 people
#138 of 187 2022
▸ ISSUE 9 MORE Nurses and midwives
2.2 /1,000 per 1,000 people
#131 of 196 2022
Hospital beds
2.9 /1,000 per 1,000 people
#62 of 157 2019
Access to clean drinking water
78.0% % of population
#179 of 214 2024
Access to basic sanitation
48.7% % of population
#176 of 213 2024
Suicide rate
per 100,000 people
2021
Adults who smoke
8.3% % of adults
#23 of 166 2024
Tuberculosis cases
87 per 100,000 people
#142 of 208 2024
Undernourishment
17.4% % of population
#136 of 168 2023
Children vaccinated against measles
87.0% % of children 12-23 months
#119 of 193 2024
1 of 19 figures unavailable for São Tomé and Príncipe.
— LEARNING —
Education spending
5.0% % of GDP
#62 of 190 2023
Education spending
18.1% % of government spending
#31 of 189 2024
Adult literacy
87.4% % aged 15+
#73 of 119 2019
Youth literacy
95.5% % aged 15-24
#72 of 126 2019
Primary school enrolment
110.4% % gross
#35 of 200 2017
Secondary school enrolment
90.4% % gross
#102 of 188 2017
University enrolment
12.8% % gross
not enough data to rank 2015
Primary school completion
85.1% % of relevant age group
#132 of 180 2017
Pupils per teacher, primary school
31 pupils per teacher
#130 of 160 2017
▸ ISSUE 1 MORE Years of compulsory education
years
2025
— WORK —
Unemployment
9.1% % of labour force
#143 of 186 2025
Youth unemployment
8.8% % of labour force aged 15-24
#57 of 186 2025
Labour force participation
% aged 15+
2025
Women in the labour force
22.7% % of women aged 15+
#171 of 186 2025
8 of 12 figures unavailable for São Tomé and Príncipe.
— CONNECTED —
Money earned from tourism
$71.9M current US$
#148 of 175 2018
17 of 18 figures unavailable for São Tomé and Príncipe.
— NATURE —
Carbon emissions per person
1 tonnes per person
#50 of 203 2024
Carbon emissions
0 Mt CO2
#15 of 203 2024
Greenhouse gas emissions
0 Mt CO2-equivalent
#17 of 203 2024
Protected land
31.7% % of land area
#31 of 213 2025
Protected coastal waters
% of territorial waters
2025
Freshwater withdrawn
1.9% % of internal resources
#44 of 177 2022
Renewable water available per person
9,633 m³ per person
#47 of 183 2022
Renewable energy use
42.5% % of final energy consumption
#56 of 212 2022
Electricity from renewables
6.1% % of total
#157 of 206 2021
▸ ISSUE 2 MORE Electricity from fossil fuels
93.9% % of total
#164 of 209 2021
Electricity from nuclear power
0.0% % of total
#167 of 208 2021
1 of 12 figures unavailable for São Tomé and Príncipe.
— STATE —
Armed forces personnel
1,000 people
not enough data to rank 1999
Armed forces
5.1% % of labour force
not enough data to rank 1999
Homicides
3 per 100,000 people
not enough data to rank 2011
4 of 7 figures unavailable for São Tomé and Príncipe.