Burundi Economy 2007

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 (PPP):
$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

Industrial production growth rate:
18% (2001)

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)

Economic aid - recipient:
$365 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$131.1 million (2006 est.)

Debt - external:
$1.2 billion (2003)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA

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)