Equatorial Guinea Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
The discovery and exploitation of large oil reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth in recent years. Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP. Subsistence farming predominates. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the neglect of the rural economy under successive regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth (the government has stated its intention to reinvest some oil revenue into agriculture). A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of corruption and mismanagement. No longer eligible for concessional financing because of large oil revenues, the government has been unsuccessfully trying to agree on a "shadow" fiscal management program with the World Bank and IMF. Businesses, for the most part, are owned by government officials and their family members. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium, iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold. Growth presumably remained strong in 2004, led by oil.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $1.27 billion (2002 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
20% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,700 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3%
industry: 95.7%
services: 1.3% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
NA

Unemployment rate:
30% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.5% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
50.8% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $813.2 million
expenditures: $375.3 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts; livestock; timber

Industries:
petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas

Industrial production growth rate:
30% (2002 est.)

Electricity - production:
26.69 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
24.82 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
350,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption:
2,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
563.5 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:
20 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
20 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
68.53 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:
$-578.6 million (2004 est.)

Exports:
$2.771 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
petroleum, methanol, timber, cocoa

Exports - partners:
US 34%, China 23.7%, Spain 21.1%, Canada 8.6% (2004)

Imports:
$1.167 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
petroleum sector equipment, other equipment

Imports - partners:
US 32.1%, Cote d'Ivoire 16.9%, Spain 13.7%, France 8.6%, UK 7.4% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$235.2 million (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$248 million (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$33.8 million (1995)

Currency (code):
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States

Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000)