Ethiopia:
Economy

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


Economy - overview	Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for almost half of GDP, 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent drought and poor cultivation practices. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy with exports of some $350 million in 2006, but historically low prices have seen many farmers switching to qat to supplement income. The war with Eritrea in 1998-2000 and recurrent drought have buffeted the economy, in particular coffee production. In November 2001, Ethiopia qualified for debt relief from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and in December 2005 the IMF voted to forgive Ethiopia's debt to the body. Under Ethiopia's land tenure system, the government owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; the system continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans. Drought struck again late in 2002, leading to a 3.3% decline in GDP in 2003. Normal weather patterns helped agricultural and GDP growth recover in 2004-06.
GDP (purchasing power parity)	$73.79 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)	$13.32 billion (FY05/06 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	10.6% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita	$1,000 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 48.3% industry: 13% services: 38.7% (2006 est.)
Labor force	27.27 million (1999)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 80% industry: 8% services: 12% (1985)
Unemployment rate	NA%
Population below poverty line	38.7% (FY05/06 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.9% highest 10%: 25.5% (2000)
Distribution of family income - Gini index	30 (2000)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	13.5% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)	27.9% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget	revenues: $2.614 billion expenditures: $3.201 billion (2006 est.)
Public debt	80.3% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products	cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, qat, cut flowers; hides, cattle, sheep, goats; fish
Industries	food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, chemicals, metals processing, cement
Electricity - production	2.864 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption	2.577 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)
Oil - production	0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption	29,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports	NA bbl/day
Oil - imports	NA bbl/day
Oil - proved reserves	428,000 bbl (1 January 2006)
Natural Gas - production	0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural Gas - consumption	0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural Gas - proved reserves	23.9 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance	$-1.786 billion (2006 est.)
Exports	$1.025 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities	coffee, qat, gold, leather products, live animals, oilseeds
Exports - partners	China 11%, Germany 9.1%, Japan 7.8%, US 7.1%, Saudi Arabia 6.1%, Djibouti 6%, Italy 5.2% (2006)
Imports	$4.106 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities	food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, cereals, textiles
Imports - partners	Saudi Arabia 18.1%, China 11.4%, India 8.1%, Italy 5.1% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	$832.7 million (2006 est.)
Debt - external	$3.406 billion (2006 est.)
Economic aid - recipient	$1.6 billion (FY05/06)
Currency (code)	birr (ETB)
Exchange rates	birr per US dollar - 8.69 (2006), 8.68 (2005), 8.6356 (2004), 8.5997 (2003), 8.5678 (2002) note: since 24 October 2001 exchange rates are determined on a daily basis via interbank transactions regulated by the Central Bank
Fiscal year	8 July - 7 July

Ethiopia: Economy

Ethiopia:
Economy