Country profile · East Africa
Madagascar
Madagascar is the world's fourth-largest island, off southeast Africa, with about 32.7 million people. Colonel Michael Randrianirina took power in October 2025 after youth protests over water and power cuts. He promises elections in 2027. Madagascar supplies about 80% of the world's natural vanilla, but the average person is poorer than at independence in 1960.
Where Madagascar ranks
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Protests led by young people who called themselves "Gen Z" began on September 25, 2025 over water and power cuts by the state utility, Jirama. The UN said at least 22 people were killed. On October 11, soldiers of the CAPSAT unit, led by Colonel Michael Randrianirina, joined the protesters. President Andry Rajoelina was flown out of the country on a French military plane. The National Assembly impeached him on October 14, and the High Constitutional Court invited Randrianirina to lead. He was sworn in as "President of the Refoundation" on October 17, 2025. Randrianirina was born in 1974 in Androy, in the far south. He was governor of Androy from about 2016 to 2018. In November 2023 he was arrested for allegedly plotting a mutiny and released in February 2024 with a suspended sentence. Mamitiana Rajaonarison has been prime minister since March 2026. The plan is a referendum on a new constitution in mid-2027 and a presidential election in late 2027. CAPSAT had also backed the 2009 coup that first brought him to power.
Photo (February 2026): Kremlin.ru, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
Who are Madagascar's allies and rivals?
Madagascar was a French colony from 1896 until independence on June 26, 1960. France crushed an uprising in 1947. Estimates of the dead range from about 11,000 to 89,000. Madagascar claims four small islands that France holds around the Mozambique Channel: the Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova, Europa and Bassas da India. On a visit in April 2025, President Emmanuel Macron said France would not give them back and offered joint management instead. Colonel Michael Randrianirina met Macron in Paris on February 24, 2026. In April 2026 Madagascar expelled a French embassy security agent. Russia has moved closer. Randrianirina met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on February 19, 2026, the first such visit by a Malagasy leader since 1978. Instructors from Russia's Africa Corps train the army, and Russia delivered helicopters, armored vehicles and drones through April 2026. China has been Madagascar's largest trading partner since 2015. The African Union suspended Madagascar on October 15, 2025 and says it will lift the suspension after elections.
Allies and partners
RussiaArmy trainers and weapons since December 2025
ChinaLargest trading partner since 2015
United StatesLargest vanilla buyer; duty-free trade scheme
South AfricaBacks Madagascar's bid to partner with BRICS
Tensions
FranceDisputed islands; agent expelled in 2026- African UnionSuspended Madagascar in October 2025
- Glorioso Islands Held by France, claimed by Madagascar. A 1979 UN resolution asked France to negotiate.
- Juan de Nova Held by France, claimed by Madagascar. President Macron refused in April 2025 to return the islands.
- Europa Island Held by France and claimed by Madagascar, like nearby Bassas da India.
- Antsiranana Northern port. A Russian delegation visited in April 2026. France pledged help to modernize it.
- Madagascar
Who does Madagascar trade with?
Madagascar exported goods worth $2.48 billion in 2025 and imported $5.22 billion (UN Comtrade). France bought 18.0% of exports and the United States 15.9% (chart). China supplied 25.5% of imports and Oman 12.4%. The main exports in 2025 were nickel, cloves, clothing, vanilla and titanium ore. Madagascar supplies about 80% of the world's natural vanilla. Vanilla exports earned $128.3 million in 2025. The United States is the largest buyer of Madagascar's vanilla. Nickel and cobalt come from the Ambatovy mine, which its main owner, Sumitomo, agreed in May 2026 to sell. Rio Tinto mines titanium ore near Fort-Dauphin. In 2025 Madagascar was the world's second-largest graphite miner after China, with 4.4% of output (USGS). Clothing factories in export zones employ about 150,000 people. Clothing is about half of Madagascar's exports to the United States. AGOA, the US scheme that lets them in duty-free, was extended in September 2026 to the end of 2028.
Sells to
Share of Madagascar's exports
- France18.0%
- United States15.9%
- China8.2%
Japan6.9%
Netherlands6.1%
Goods, 2025. UN Comtrade (Madagascar's own figures).
Why is Madagascar so poor?
Madagascar's GDP per person was about $620 in 2025, and only five countries had less (chart). The World Bank says real income per person in 2025 was about 56% of its 1960 level. The average person is poorer than at independence. About two thirds of people lived on less than $3 a day in 2025 (World Bank). Only about 36% of people have reliable electricity, and the state utility, Jirama, cannot keep the power on. Daily cuts of two to three hours returned to Antananarivo in October 2026. Political crises in 2002, 2009 and 2025 each brought a change of leader outside the normal rules, and the African Union suspended Madagascar after each one. Cyclones hit often. Freddy, in 2023, was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record, at 36 days. Gezani killed at least 59 people in February 2026. In the dry far south, more than 2.5 million people faced acute food shortages in October 2026 (Action Against Hunger). The IMF expects growth of 3.8% in 2026.
GDP per person, the lowest in the world, 2025
Full ranking →
Niger$750
Malawi$625
Mozambique$623- Madagascar$622
Central African Republic$579
Burundi$478
South Sudan$470
Afghanistan$448
Yemen$420
IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026)
Why are Madagascar's plants and animals unique?
About 82% of Madagascar's plant species and 90% of its vertebrate species live nowhere else (Science, 2022). Lemurs are native only to Madagascar. There are 112 species of lemur, and 94% to 98% of them are threatened with extinction (IUCN). Madagascar lost 44% of its natural forest between 1953 and 2014. Population growth and weak law enforcement were among the causes (Vieilledent and others, 2018). People arrived only in the last 1,500 to 2,000 years. The Malagasy language comes from Austronesian seafarers from the region of Borneo, and its closest relative is Ma'anyan, spoken in southern Borneo. Bantu-speaking Africans followed, and most Malagasy today have mixed African and Asian ancestry. The Merina kingdom of the highlands united much of the island in the 19th century, before France invaded in 1895. Bubonic plague still appears every year, and an outbreak in 2017 killed 209 people. The French writer Claude Simon, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1985, was born in Antananarivo in 1913.