DR Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
U.S. sanctions — DRC-related sanctions. Targeted designations tied to conflict and illicit mineral flows.
As of August 2026 — verify with OFAC and screen counterparties with the xin.bz OFAC search.
- Region
- Africa · Middle Africa
- Capital
- Kinshasa
- Population
- 112,832,473 (2025)
- Government
- semi-presidential republic
- Currency
- Congolese franc (CDF)
- Official languages
- French, Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili, Tshiluba
- Spoken languages
- French (official), Lingala (a trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
- Written scripts
- Latin
- Area
- 2,344,858 km²
- Coastline
- Coastal
- UN member
- Yes
- Affiliations
- African Union, COMESA, EAC, IMF, SADC, WCO, WTO
- Borders
- Angola , Burundi , Central African Republic , Congo , Rwanda , South Sudan , Tanzania , Uganda , Zambia
Political stability
30 / 100
Economic stability
42 / 100
Population stability
49 / 100
0–100, higher is more stable. Political: World Bank governance score. Economic: government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and inflation proximity to 2% (World Bank). Population: stability of growth and net migration rates (World Bank).
Trade profile
- Key exports
- refined copper, cobalt, copper ore, raw copper, crude petroleum (2023)
- Key imports
- trucks, refined petroleum, stone processing machines, plastic products, sulphur (2023)
- Natural resources
- cobalt, copper, niobium, tantalum, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium
- Critical minerals
- World’s dominant cobalt producer (~70% of mine supply); major copper belt.
- Primary route
- Gulf of Guinea and Congo-basin gateways to Europe
- Secondary route
- Cape-routed services to Asia
The xin.bz view
- DRC policy is redefining mineral supply: rules targeting copper and cobalt concentrate exports (with strategic waivers) push value toward local processing — and its cargo increasingly rides competing corridors, east to Dar es Salaam (~7.77M t, +30%) and west to Lobito.
xin.bz coverage
El Niño Is Splitting Africa's Water Map — Just as the World Turns to the Continent for Food, Fertilizer, Fuel and Critical Minerals
A wetter Horn and a drier south, Southern Africa's grain and Kariba buffers, cocoa's port squeeze, Moroccan phosphate and Nigerian fuel as global substitutes, and the corridors that turn African resources into accessible supply.
Africa Is Building a Continental Trade System in Real Time: AfCFTA Moves From Treaty to Customs Gates, Payment Rails and Freight Corridors
AfCFTA's implementation era in 2026 — customs modernization, PAPSS payment expansion, the Abidjan-Lagos and Lobito corridors, and the regional manufacturing buildout reshaping intra-African trade.
Zimbabwe's Antimony Export Restriction Turns Processing Capacity Into Strategic Power
Zimbabwe has placed antimony and tungsten behind a national gate, and the decisive contest is now over who finances the processing capacity — in a market where three countries mine 85% of world supply.
Future Insight ·
The AI Factory Becomes an Industrial Commodity Complex — How Data Centers Reshape Cooling, Water, Power, Metals, and Global Trade Through 2050
Future Insights deep dive — how AI data centers reshape global demand for copper, transformers, cooling equipment, waste heat, and grid capacity through 2050, and what it means for global trade.
Trade research
- WTO trade profile — tariffs, trade in goods and services, top partners
- World Bank country data — GDP, trade share of GDP, logistics indicators
- OEC trade profile — export/import composition and partners, visualized
- ITC Trade Map — detailed trade statistics by product (ITC/UN Comtrade)
- CIA World Factbook — geography, economy, transportation infrastructure
xin.bz can watch DR Congo for you — email alerts when new disruptions hit. Start free
Sources: mledoze/countries (ODbL), CIA World Factbook (public domain), World Bank Open Data (CC BY-4.0), flag-icons (MIT). Stability scores are xin.bz composites of the cited World Bank indicators; routes and commodity notes are xin.bz assessments. Informational only — verify with official sources.