Guinea-Bissau:
Economy

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


Economy - overview	One of the 10 poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2002. Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. However, offshore oil prospecting has begun and could lead to much-needed revenue in the long run. The inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development from a lamentably low base. In December 2003, the World Bank, IMF, and UNDP were forced to step in to provide emergency budgetary support in the amount of $107 million for 2004, representing over 80% of the total national budget. Government drift and indecision, however, resulted in continued low growth in 2002-06.
GDP (purchasing power parity)	$1.249 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)	$292.9 million (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	2.1% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita	$900 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 62% industry: 12% services: 26% (1999 est.)
Labor force	480,000 (1999)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 82% industry and services: 18% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA%
Population below poverty line	NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 42.4% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	4% (2002 est.)
Budget	revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA
Agriculture - products	rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish
Industries	agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks
Electricity - production	60 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption	55.8 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)
Oil - production	0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption	2,500 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.)
Exports	$116 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities	cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber
Exports - partners	India 76.1%, Nigeria 18.1%, Italy 1.4% (2006)
Imports	$176 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities	foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products
Imports - partners	Portugal 18.8%, Senegal 16.3%, Italy 13%, Pakistan 4.5% (2006)
Debt - external	$941.5 million (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient	$79.12 million (2005)
Currency (code)	Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Exchange rates	Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002) note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro
Fiscal year	calendar year

Guinea-Bissau: Economy

Guinea-Bissau:
Economy