Burundi Economy 2008

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. Burundi grew about 5% annually in 2006, but GDP growth probably fell to under 4% in 2007. 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 will continue to remain heavily dependent on aid from bilateral and multilateral donors; the delay of funds after a corruption scandal cut off bilateral aid in 2007 reduced government's revenues and its ability to pay salaries.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$6.389 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$848.3 million (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$800 (2007 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):
7% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
25.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $259.4 million
expenditures: $331.8 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2007 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:
7.5% (2007 est.)

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 (2005)

Oil - consumption:
2,900 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
2,687 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
-$137.3 million (2007 est.)

Exports:
$74.17 million f.o.b. (2007 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:
$340.2 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)

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:
$117.7 million (31 December 2007 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 - 1,065 (2007), 1,030 (2006), 1,138 (2005), 1,100.91 (2004), 1,082.62 (2003)