Ethiopian Economy

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Ethiopian economy

Economy overview:

Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for 45% of GDP, and 85% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent drought and poor cultivation practices. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy with exports of some $350 million in 2006, but historically low prices have seen many farmers switching to qat to supplement income. The war with Eritrea in 1998-2000 and recurrent drought have buffeted the economy, in particular coffee production. In November 2001, Ethiopia qualified for debt relief from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and in December 2005 the IMF forgave Ethiopia's debt. Under Ethiopia's constitution, the state owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; the system continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans. Drought struck again late in 2002, leading to a 3.3% decline in GDP in 2003. Although GDP growth has since rebounded, soaring commodity prices in 2007 and 2008 and the global economic downturn led to balance of payments pressures, partially alleviated by recent emergency funding from the IMF.

Population:	85,237,338 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure:	0-14 years: 46.1% (male 19,596,784/female 19,688,887) 15-64 years: 51.2% (male 21,376,495/female 22,304,812) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 975,923/female 1,294,437) (2009 est.)
Median age:	total: 16.9 years male: 16.6 years female: 17.2 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:	3.208% (2009 est.)
Birth rate:	43.66 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate:	11.55 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:	total: 80.8 deaths/1,000 live births male: 92.06 deaths/1,000 live births female: 69.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:	total population: 55.41 years male: 52.92 years female: 57.97 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:	6.12 children born/woman (2009 est.)
GDP (purchasing power parity):	$76.74 billion (2009 est.), $66.29 billion (2008 est.), $61.09 billion (2007) note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):	$34.32 billion (2009 est.), $25.08 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

8% (2009 est.), 8.5% (2008 est.), 11.1% (2007 est.), 10.9% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita:

$900 (2009 est.), $800 (2008 est.), $800 (2007 est.), $700 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 43.8%
industry: 13.2%
services: 43% (2009 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):	23.1% of GDP (2009 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:	lowest 10%: 4.1% highest 10%: 25.6% (2005)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:	30 (2000)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):	11% (2009 est.), 41% (2008 est.)

Labor force:

37.9 million (2007)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 85%
industry: 5%
services: 10% (2009 est.)

Unemployment rate:

NA (2002 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $4.678 billion
expenditures: $5.36 billion (2009 est.)

Public debt:	31.7% of GDP (2009 est.), 34.4% of GDP (2008 est.)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:	8% (31 December 2008), 7% (31 December 2006)
Stock of money:	$NA (31 December 2008), $3.651 billion (31 December 2006)
Stock of quasi money:	$NA (31 December 2008), $3.258 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:	$NA (31 December 2008) $6.694 billion (31 December 2006)
Agriculture - products:	cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, qat, cut flowers; hides, cattle, sheep, goats; fish
Industries:	food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metals processing, cement

Industrial production growth rate:

8% (2009 est.)

Electricity - production:

3.46 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 1.3%
hydro: 97.6%
other: 1.1% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:

3.13 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2008)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2008)

Oil - production:	0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption:	37,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - exports:	0 bbl/day (2007)
Oil - imports:	33,590 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:	430,000 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
Natural gas -proved reserves:	24.92 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
Current account balance:	-$2.165 billion (2009 est.), $-1.609 billion (2008 est.)

Exports:

$1.608 billion (2009 est.), $1.439 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Exports - commodities:

coffee, qat, gold, leather products, live animals, oilseeds

Exports - partners:

Germany 11.8%, Saudi Arabia 8.7%, Netherlands 8.6%, US 8.1%, Switzerland 7.7%, Italy 6.1%, China 6%, Sudan 5.5%, Japan 4.4% (2008)

Imports:	$7.315 billion (2009 est.), $6.218 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports - commodities	food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, cereals, textiles

Imports - partners:

China 16.3%, Saudi Arabia 12%, India 8.7%, Italy 6%, Japan 4.9%, US 4.5% (2008)

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:	$1.212 billion (31 December 2009 est.), $1.008 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Debt - external:	$4.229 billion (31 December 2009 est.), $3.155 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:

$1.6 billion (FY05/06)

Currency:

birr (ETB)

Currency code:

ETB

Exchange rates:

birr (ETB) per US dollar - 11.86 (2009), 9.57 (2008 est.), 8.96 (2007), 8.69 (2006), 8.68 (2005)
note: since 24 October 2001, exchange rates are determined on a daily basis via interbank transactions regulated by the Central Bank

Fiscal year:

8 July - 7 July