Mali Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert and with a highly unequal distribution of income. Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10% of the population is nomadic and some 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. Mali is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for cotton, its main export, along with gold. The government has continued its successful implementation of an IMF-recommended structural adjustment program that is helping the economy grow, diversify, and attract foreign investment. Mali's adherence to economic reform and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a 5% average in 1996-2007. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$14.18 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$6.256 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
4.3% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$1,200 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 45%
industry: 17%
services: 38% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
3.93 million (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 80%
industry and services: 20% (2001 est.)

Unemployment rate:
14.6% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line:
64% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.2% (2001)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
40.1 (2001)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.5% (2002 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $764 million
expenditures: $828 million (2002 est.)

Agriculture - products:
cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats

Industries:
food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

Electricity - production:
444 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
412.9 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2005)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
4,500 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
4,369 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.)

Exports:
$294 million f.o.b. (2006)

Exports - commodities:
cotton, gold, livestock

Exports - partners:
China 35.2%, Thailand 9.3%, Taiwan 6.5%, Bangladesh 5.3%, Australia 5% (2006)

Imports:
$2.358 billion f.o.b. (2006)

Imports - partners:
France 12.8%, Senegal 12.1%, Cote d'Ivoire 10.4% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$691.5 million (2005)

Debt - external:
$2.8 billion (2002)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA

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 - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003)