Burundi:
Economy

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Other pages in this profile of Burundi:
Geography, People, Government, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.


Economy - overview	Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with more than 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Economic growth depends on coffee and tea exports, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports, therefore, rests primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices. The Tutsi minority, 14% of the population, dominates the government and the coffee trade at the expense of the Hutu majority, 85% of the population. An ethnic-based war that lasted for over a decade resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced more than 48,000 refugees into Tanzania, and displaced 140,000 others internally. Only one in two children go to school, and approximately one in 15 adults has HIV/AIDS. Food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply. Political stability and the end of the civil war have improved aid flows and economic activity has increased, but underlying weaknesses - a high poverty rate, poor education rates, a weak legal system, and low administrative capacity - risk undermining planned economic reforms. Burundi grew about 5 percent in 2006. Delayed disbursements of funds from the World Bank may add to budget pressures in 2007. Burundi will continue to remain heavily dependent on aid from bilateral and multilateral donors.
GDP (purchasing power parity)	$5.854 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)	$785.5 million (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	5.1% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita	$700 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 44.9% industry: 20.9% services: 34.1% (2006 est.)
Labor force	2.99 million (2002)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 93.6% industry: 2.3% services: 4.1% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA%
Population below poverty line	68% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 1.7% highest 10%: 32.8% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index	42.4 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2.8% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)	24.9% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget	revenues: $214.1 million expenditures: $306.8 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products	coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides
Industries	light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing
Electricity - production	137 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption	161.4 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	34 million kWh; note - supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2005)
Oil - production	0 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - consumption	3,100 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports	NA bbl/day
Oil - imports	NA bbl/day
Oil - proved reserves	0 bbl (1 January 2006)
Natural Gas - production	0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural Gas - consumption	0 cu m (2005 est.)
Current account balance	$-124 million (2006 est.)
Exports	$61 million f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities	coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides
Exports - partners	Switzerland 33.7%, UK 12.2%, Pakistan 8.5%, Rwanda 5.3%, Egypt 4.2% (2006)
Imports	$286 million f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities	capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs
Imports - partners	Saudi Arabia 12.6%, Kenya 8.2%, Japan 7.8%, Russia 4.7%, UK 4.6%, France 4.4%, China 4.4% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	$131.1 million (2006 est.)
Debt - external	$1.2 billion (2003)
Economic aid - recipient	$365 million (2005)
Currency (code)	Burundi franc (BIF)
Exchange rates	Burundi francs per US dollar - 1,030 (2006), 1,138 (2005), 1,100.91 (2004), 1,082.62 (2003), 930.75 (2002)
Fiscal year	calendar year

Burundi: Economy

Burundi:
Economy