Guinea-Bissau Economy Profile 2002

Economy - overview

One of the 10 poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2001. Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. However, unexploited offshore oil reserves could provide much-needed revenue in the long run. The inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development.

GDP (purchasing power parity)

purchasing power parity - $1.2 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

7.2% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

purchasing power parity - $900 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 54%
industry: 15%
services: 31% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line

NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 42% (1991) (1991)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

5% (2001 est.)

Labor force

480,000

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture 82% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate

NA%

Budget

revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries

agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks

Industrial production growth rate

2.6% (1997 est.)

Electricity - production

60 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2000)

Electricity - consumption

55.8 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports

0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products

rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish

Exports

$80 million f.o.b. (2000 est.)

Exports - commodities

cashew nuts 70%, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber

Exports - partners

India 51.4%, Italy 2.7%, South Korea 2.0%, Belgium 2.0% (2000)

Imports

$55.2 million f.o.b. (2000 est.)

Imports - commodities

foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products

Imports - partners

Portugal 30%, Senegal 14.6%, Thailand 8.5%, China 5.7% (2000)

Debt - external

$931 million (1999 est.)

Economic aid - recipient

$115.4 million (1995) (1995)

Currency

Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States; previously the Guinea-Bissau peso (GWP) was used

Currency (code)

XOF; GWP

Exchange rates

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997)
note: as of 1 May 1997, Guinea-Bissau adopted the XOF franc as the national currency; since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro

Fiscal year

calendar year