The fastest-growing economies are rarely the household names. The growth charts are dominated by small or resource-rich countries, where one big shift moves the percentage dramatically.
Source: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0), annual GDP growth, each country’s latest reported year. Retrieved June 2026.
The leaders
| Rank | Country | GDP growth (latest yr) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guyana | 43.8% |
| 2 | Niger | 10.3% |
| 3 | Georgia | 9.7% |
| 4 | Kyrgyz Republic | 9.0% |
| 5 | Rwanda | 8.9% |
Full list: fastest-growing economies. Guyana’s rate is in a class of its own — an offshore oil boom that is enormous relative to its small population, so per-person figures have rocketed too.
The small-base effect
Growth is a rate. A new mine or oilfield can add 10% to a small economy and almost nothing to a giant. That’s why you don’t see the largest economies — the US, China, Germany — anywhere near the top of growth tables. Mature economies grow steadily in the low single digits.
Growth vs wealth
Fast growth does not mean a country is rich. Several fast-growers remain low- or lower-middle-income; they are catching up from a low GDP per capita. Sustained growth over decades is what turns a poor country into a rich one — see GDP vs GDP per capita.
Bottom line
Guyana is today’s growth champion, but the list churns year to year as resource projects and recoveries come and go. To see a specific country’s latest growth rate, open its profile page or run a head-to-head comparison.