Burkina Faso Economy Profile 2009

Economy - overview

One of the poorest countries in the world, landlocked Burkina Faso has few natural resources and a weak industrial base. About 90% of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture, which is vulnerable to periodic drought. Cotton is the main cash crop and the government has joined with three other cotton producing countries in the region - Mali, Niger, and Chad - to lobby in the World Trade Organization for fewer subsidies to producers in other competing countries. Since 1998, Burkina Faso has embarked upon a gradual but successful privatization of state-owned enterprises. Having revised its investment code in 2004, Burkina Faso hopes to attract foreign investors. Thanks to this new code and other legislation favoring the mining sector, the country has seen an upswing in gold exploration and production. While the bitter internal crisis in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire is beginning to be resolved, it is still having a negative effect on Burkina Faso's trade and employment. Burkina Faso received a Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) threshold grant to improve girls' education at the primary school level, and signed an MCC compact that focuses on the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, and land reform in July 2008.

GDP (purchasing power parity)

$17.82 billion (2008 est.)
$17.05 billion (2007 est.)
$16.46 billion (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$8.103 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

4.5% (2008 est.)
3.6% (2007 est.)
5.5% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

$1,200 (2008 est.)
$1,200 (2007 est.)
$1,100 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 29.1%
industry: 19.9%
services: 51% (2008 est.)

Population below poverty line

46.4% (2004)

Labor force

6.668 million
note: a large part of the male labor force migrates annually to neighboring countries for seasonal employment (2007)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 90%
industry and services: 10% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate

77% (2004)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 32.2% (2004)

Distribution of family income - Gini index

39.5 (2007)
48.2 (1994)

Investment (gross fixed)

19.6% of GDP (2008 est.)

Budget

revenues: $1.409 billion
expenditures: $1.786 billion (2008 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

10.7% (2008 est.)
-0.2% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate

4.75% (31 December 2008)
4.25% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate

NA

Stock of money

$NA (31 December 2008)
$1.051 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money

$NA (31 December 2008)
$663 million (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit

$NA (31 December 2008)
$905.1 million (31 December 2007)

Industries

cotton lint, beverages, agricultural processing, soap, cigarettes, textiles, gold

Industrial production growth rate

4.5% (2008 est.)

Electricity - production

611.6 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel: 69.9%
hydro: 30.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption

509.3 million kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption

8,470 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - imports

8,446 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - exports

0 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current Account Balance

-$931 million (2008 est.)
-$564 million (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products

cotton, peanuts, shea nuts, sesame, sorghum, millet, corn, rice; livestock

Exports

$544 million (2008 est.)
$618 million (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities

cotton, livestock, gold

Exports - partners

Singapore 16.9%, China 16%, Belgium 12.9%, Thailand 9.1%, Ghana 7%, Niger 5.2%, Denmark 4.9% (2008)

Imports

$1.343 billion (2008 est.)
$1.221 billion (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities

capital goods, foodstuffs, petroleum

Imports - partners

Cote d'Ivoire 26.4%, France 18.2%, Togo 7.3%, Libya 4.2% (2008)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$637 million (31 December 2008 est.)
$1.029 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external

$1.665 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$1.33 billion (2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares

$NA

Economic aid - recipient

$659.6 million (2005)

Currency (code)

Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States

Currency (code)

XOF

Exchange rates

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 447.81 (2008 est.), 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004)
note: since 1 January 1999, the West African CFA franc (XOF) has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA francs per euro; West African CFA franc (XOF) coins and banknotes are not accepted in countries using Central African CFA francs (XAF), and vice versa, even though the two currencies trade at par

Fiscal year

calendar year