Currency | West African CFA franc (XOF, CFA) |
---|---|
655.957 CFA francs per euro | |
Calendar year | |
Trade organisations | AU, AfCFTA, WTO, ECOWAS, WAEMU |
Country group |
|
Statistics | |
Population | 29,344,847 [3] |
GDP | |
GDP rank | |
GDP growth |
|
GDP per capita | |
GDP per capita rank | |
GDP by sector |
|
2.0% (2020 est.) [6] | |
Population below poverty line | |
41.5 medium (2015) [9] | |
Labour force | |
Labour force by occupation | agriculture: 68% (2007 est.) [5] |
Unemployment | 9.4% (2013 est.) [5] |
Main industries | foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, gold mining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity |
External | |
Exports | $16.326 billion (2018 est.) [14] |
Export goods | cocoa beans, gold, rubber, refined petroleum, crude petroleum |
Main export partners |
|
Imports | $14.248 billion (2018 est.) [14] |
Import goods | crude petroleum, rice, frozen fish, refined petroleum, packaged medicines |
Main import partners | |
FDI stock | |
−$1.86 billion (2017 est.) [5] | |
Gross external debt | $13.07 billion (31 December 2017 est.) [5] |
Public finances | |
47% of GDP (2017 est.) [5] | |
−4.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.) [5] | |
Revenues | 7.749 billion (2017 est.) [5] |
Expenses | 9.464 billion (2017 est.) [5] |
Economic aid | recipient: ODA, $1 billion (1996 est.) |
$6.257 billion (31 December 2017 est.) [5] | |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. |
The economy of Ivory Coast is stable and currently growing, in the aftermath of political instability in recent decades. The Ivory Coast's economy is largely market-based and depends heavily on the agricultural sector. Almost 70% of the Ivorian people are engaged in some form of agricultural activity. [19] The economy grew 82% in the 1960s, reaching a peak growth of 360% in the 1970s, but this proved unsustainable and it shrank by 28% in the 1980s and a further 22% in the 1990s. This decline, coupled with high population growth, resulted in a steady fall in living standards. The gross national product per capita, now rising again, was about US$727 in 1996. It was substantially higher two decades before. Real GDP growth is expected to average 6.5% in 2024–25.
After several years of lagging performance, the Ivorian economy began a comeback in 1994, due to the devaluation of the CFA franc and improved prices for cocoa and coffee, growth in non-traditional primary exports such as pineapples and rubber, limited trade and banking liberalization, offshore oil and gas discoveries, and generous external financing and debt rescheduling by multilateral lenders and France. [20] The 50% devaluation of franc zone currencies on 12 January 1994 caused a one-time jump in the inflation rate to 26% in 1994, but the rate fell sharply from 1996–1999. [20] Moreover, government adherence to donor-mandated reforms led to a jump in growth to 5% annually in 1996–99. [20] A majority of the population remains dependent on smallholder cash crop production. [21]
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By developing-country standards, Ivory Coast has an outstanding infrastructure. [21] There is a network of more than 13,000 kilometres (8,000 mi) of paved roads; modern telecommunications services, including a public data communications network; cellular phones and Internet access; two active ports, one of which, Abidjan, is the most modern in West Africa; rail links-in the process of being upgraded-both within the country and to Burkina Faso; regular air service within the region and to and from Europe; and real estate developments for commercial, industrial, retail, and residential use. [21] Ivory Coast's location and connections to neighboring countries makes it a preferred platform for foreigners to conduct West African business operations. [21] The city of Abidjan is one of the most modern and liveable cities in the region. [21]
The government's public investment plan accords priority to investment in human capital, but it also will provide for significant spending on the economic infrastructure needed to sustain growth. [21]
In the new environment of government disengagement from productive activities and in the wake of recent privatizations, anticipated investments in the petroleum, electricity, water, and telecommunications sectors, and in part of the transport sector, will be financed without any direct government intervention. [21]
Mean wages were $1.05 per man-hour in 2009.
Ivory Coast produced, in 2018: [22]
In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products, like coffee (88 thousand tons) and pineapple (50 thousand tons). [22]
Ivory Coast is among the world's largest producers and exporters of cocoa beans and palm oil. [20] Consequently, the economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices for these products and to weather conditions. [20] Despite attempts by the government to diversify the economy, it is still largely dependent on agriculture and related activities. [20] Forced labor by children bought and sold as slaves are endemic in cacao production. [23]
Côte d'Ivoire's energy supply relies on several hydroelectric stations and gas-to-power plants that make use of the country's hydraulic and natural gas resources. Over recent years, the country has also sought to develop its solar industry and is setting up several solar PV plants to diversify its energy mix. [24]
Côte d'Ivoire also holds oil and natural gas resources offshore, although production has remained small compared to other African neighbours such as Ghana or Nigeria. In 2021, it produced less than 25,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). [25] However, recent discoveries [26] by Eni in 2021 and 2022 have given hope that production could rise in the near future.
In 2019, the country was the 9th largest world producer of manganese. [27]
In the production of gold, in 2017 the country produced 20.3 tons. [28]
Ivory Coast has emerged as a significant player in the global rubber market. In 2022, the nation produced 1.55 million tonnes of natural rubber, surpassing Vietnam to become the world's third-largest producer. This significant increase from 815,000 tonnes in 2019 can be attributed to several factors, including a shift by Ivorian farmers from cacao to rubber cultivation. This shift is driven by the potential benefits of European sustainability regulations, which will take effect in 2025. [29]
Ivory Coast has made progress in diversifying its economy, and since the 1970s, has steadily expanded the facilities offered to tourists. Resort lodgings in coastal areas have been developed. There are numerous hotels in Abidjan, including international chains such as Novotel and Sofitel.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a key role in the Ivorian economy, accounting for between 40% and 45% of total capital in Ivorian firms. [21] France is overwhelmingly the most important foreign investor. [21] In recent years[ when? ], French investment has accounted for about one-quarter of the total capital in Ivorian enterprises, and between 55% and 60% of the total stock of foreign investment capital. [21]
The stock market capitalisation of listed companies in Ivory Coast was $2,327 million in 2005 by the World Bank. [30]
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2023. [31]
Year | GDP (in billion US$ PPP) | GDP per capita (in US$ PPP) | GDP (in billion US$ nominal) | GDP growth (real) | Inflation (in Percent) | Government debt (in % of GDP) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | 20.7 | 2,585 | 13.9 | 5.2% | 8.8% | ... |
1985 | 27.4 | 2,874 | 9.5 | 3.6% | 1.8% | ... |
1990 | 34.3 | 3,051 | 14.9 | −1.0% | −0.7% | ... |
1995 | 40.8 | 2,882 | 15.2 | 5.6% | 14.1% | ... |
2000 | 52.9 | 3,279 | 14.9 | −2.1% | 2.5% | 74% |
2005 | 59.3 | 3,235 | 23.6 | 1.7% | 3.9% | 58% |
2006 | 62.1 | 3,300 | 24.6 | 1.5% | 2.5% | 57% |
2007 | 64.9 | 3,361 | 28.2 | 1.8% | 1.9% | 53% |
2008 | 67.8 | 3,424 | 33.6 | 2.5% | 6.3% | 51% |
2009 | 70.5 | 3,468 | 33.7 | 3.3% | 1.0% | 46% |
2010 | 72.8 | 3,489 | 34.4 | 2.0% | 1.4% | 46% |
2011 | 70.7 | 3,303 | 35.5 | −4.2% | 4.9% | 50% |
2012 | 78.2 | 3,563 | 37.0 | 10.1% | 1.3% | 25% |
2013 | 86.4 | 3,834 | 43.2 | 9.3% | 2.6% | 25% |
2014 | 97.9 | 4,237 | 48.9 | 8.8% | 0.4% | 27% |
2015 | 108.1 | 4,558 | 45.8 | 8.8% | 1.2% | 29% |
2016 | 113.7 | 4,672 | 48.4 | 7.2% | 0.6% | 31% |
2017 | 120.2 | 4,814 | 52.5 | 7.4% | 0.6% | 33% |
2018 | 129.0 | 5,038 | 58.5 | 4.8% | 0.6% | 35% |
2019 | 139.9 | 5,324 | 59.9 | 6.5% | 0.8% | 38% |
2020 | 144.2 | 5,348 | 63.1 | 1.7% | 2.4% | 46% |
2021 | 161.2 | 5,828 | 71.8 | 7.0% | 4.2% | 51% |
2022 | 184.0 | 6,486 | 70.2 | 6.7% | 5.2% | 57% |
2023 | 202.6 | 6,960 | 79.4 | 6.2% | 4.3% | 57% |
GDP – composition by sector: agriculture: 17.4% industry: 28.8% services: 53.8% (2017 est.) [32]
Labor force: 8.747 million (60% agricultural) (2017 est.) [32]
Unemployment rate: 9.4% (2013 est.) [32]
Population below poverty line: 46.3% (2015 est.) [32]
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.2% highest 10%: 31.8% (2008) [32]
Distribution of family income – Gini index: 41.5 (2008) [32]
Investment (gross fixed): 8.7% of GDP (2005 est.)
Budget: revenues: $7.121 billion, expenditures: $8.886 billion (2017 est.) [32]
Agriculture – products: coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber [32]
Industries: foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, gold mining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity [32]
Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2017 est.) [32]
Electricity – production: 8.262 billion kWh (2015 est.) [32]
Electricity – consumption: 5.669 billion kWh (2015 est.) [32]
Electricity – exports: 872 million kWh (2015 est.) [32]
Electricity – imports: 23 million kWh (2015 est.) [32]
Oil – production: 30,000 bbl/day (2016 est.) [32]
Oil – consumption:20,000 bbl/d (3,200 m3/d) (2003 est.)
Oil – exports: 34,720 bbl/day (2014 est.) [32]
Oil – imports: 65,540 bbl/day (2014 est.) [32]
Oil – proved reserves: 100 million bbl (1 January 2017 est.) [32]
Natural gas – production: 2.063 billion cu m (2015 est.) [32] Natural gas – consumption: 2.063 billion cu m (2015 est.) [32]
Natural gas – exports: 0 cu m (2013 est.) [32]
Natural gas – imports: 0 cu m (2013 est.) [32]
Natural gas – proved reserves: 28.32 billion cu m (1 January 2017 est.) [32]
Current account balance: $-$490 million (2017 est.) [32]
Exports: $11.08 billion (2017 est.) [32]
Exports – commodities: cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish [32]
Exports – partners: Netherlands 11.8%, US 7.9%, France 6.4%, Belgium 6.4%, Germany 5.8%, Burkina Faso 4.5%, India 4.4%, Mali 4.2% (2017) [32]
Imports: $8.789 billion (2017 est.) [32]
Imports – commodities: fuel, capital equipment, foodstuffs [32]
Imports – partners: Nigeria 15%, France 13.4%, China 11.3%, US 4.3% (2017) [32]
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $4.688 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Debt – external: $12.38 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Economic aid – recipient: ODA, $1 billion (1996 est.)
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 – 594.3 (2017 est.) 593.01 (2016 est.) 593.01 (2015 est.) 591.45 (2014 est.) 494.42 (2013 est.)
Fiscal year: calendar year
The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture and cotton. Cotton accounts for 40% of Benin's GDP and roughly 80% of official export receipts. There is also production of textiles, palm products, and cocoa beans. Maize (corn), beans, rice, peanuts, cashews, pineapples, cassava, yams, and other various tubers are grown for local subsistence. Benin began producing a modest quantity of offshore oil in October 1982. Production ceased in recent years but exploration of new sites is ongoing.
The economy of Chad suffers from the landlocked country's geographic remoteness, drought, lack of infrastructure, and political turmoil. About 85% of the population depends on agriculture, including livestock herding. Of Africa's Francophone countries, Chad benefited least from the 50% devaluation of their currencies in January 1994. Financial aid from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and other sources is directed mainly at improving agriculture, especially livestock production. Because of a lack of financing, the development of oil fields near Doba, originally due to finish in 2000, was delayed until 2003. It was finally developed and is now operated by ExxonMobil. Regarding gross domestic product, Chad ranks 147th globally with $11.051 billion as of 2018.
The economy of Cameroon was one of the most prosperous in Africa for a quarter of a century after independence. The drop in commodity prices for its principal exports – petroleum, cocoa, coffee, and cotton – in the mid-1980s, combined with an overvalued currency and economic mismanagement, led to a decade-long recession. Real per capita GDP fell by more than 60% from 1986 to 1994. The current account and fiscal deficits widened, and foreign debt grew. Yet because of its oil reserves and favorable agricultural conditions, Cameroon still has one of the best-endowed primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa.
The economy of the Dominican Republic is the seventh largest in Latin America, and is the largest in the Caribbean and Central American region. The Dominican Republic is an upper-middle income developing country with important sectors including mining, tourism, manufacturing, energy, real estate, infrastructure, telecommunications and agriculture. The Dominican Republic is on track to achieve its goal of becoming a high-income country by 2030, and is expected to grow 79% in this decade. The country is the site of the single largest gold mine in Latin America, the Pueblo Viejo mine. Although the service sector is currently the leading employer of Dominicans, agriculture remains an important sector in terms of the domestic market and is in second place in terms of export earnings. Tourism accounts for more than $7.4 billion in annual earnings in 2019. Free-trade zone earnings and tourism are the fastest-growing export sectors. A leading growth engine in the Free-trade zone sector is the production of medical equipment for export having a value-added per employee of US$20,000, total revenue of US$1.5 billion, and a growth rate of 7.7% in 2019. The medical instrument export sector represents one of the highest-value added sectors of the country's economy, a true growth engine for the country's emerging market. Remittances are an important sector of the economy, contributing US$8.2 billion in 2020. Most of these funds are used to cover household expenses, such as housing, food, clothing, health care and education. Secondarily, remittances have financed businesses and productive activities. Thirdly, this combined effect has induced investment by the private sector and helps fund the public sector through its value-added tax. The combined import market including the free-trade-zones amounts to a market of $20 billion a year in 2019. The combined export sector had revenues totaling $11 billion in 2019. The consumer market is equivalent to $61 billion in 2019. An important indicator is the average commercial loan interest rate, which directs short-term investment and stimulates long-term investment in the economy. It is currently 8.30%, as of June 2021.
The economy of Equatorial Guinea has traditionally been dependent on commodities such as cocoa and coffee, but is now heavily dependent on petroleum due to the discovery and exploitation of significant oil reserves in the 1980s. In 2017, it graduated from "Least Developed Country" status, one of six Sub-Saharan African nations that managed to do so.
The economy of Gabon is characterized by strong links with France, large foreign investments, dependence on skilled foreign labor, and decline of agriculture. Gabon on paper enjoys a per capita income four times that of most nations of Africa, but its reliance on resource extraction industry fail to release much of the population from extreme poverty, as much of 30% of the population lives under the poverty threshold.
The economy of Kyrgyzstan is heavily dependent on the agricultural sector. Cotton, tobacco, wool, and meat are the main agricultural products, although only tobacco and cotton are exported in any quantity. According to Healy Consultants, Kyrgyzstan's economy relies heavily on the strength of industrial exports, with plentiful reserves of gold, mercury and uranium. The economy also relies heavily on remittances from foreign workers. Following independence, Kyrgyzstan was progressive in carrying out market reforms, such as an improved regulatory system and land reform. In 1998, Kyrgyzstan was the first Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country to be accepted into the World Trade Organization. Much of the government's stock in enterprises has been sold. Kyrgyzstan's economic performance has been hindered by widespread corruption, low foreign investment and general regional instability. Despite those issues, Kyrgyzstan is ranked 70th on the ease of doing business index.
The economy of Laos is a lower-middle income developing economy. Being a socialist state, the Lao economic model resembles the Chinese socialist market and/or Vietnamese socialist-oriented market economies by combining high degrees of state ownership with openness to foreign direct investment and private ownership in a predominantly market-based framework.
The economy of Libya depends primarily on revenues from the petroleum sector, which represents over 95% of export earnings and 60% of GDP. These oil revenues and a small population have given Libya one of the highest nominal per capita GDP in Africa.
The economy of Mali is based to a large extent upon agriculture, with a mostly rural population engaged in subsistence agriculture.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of Niger was $16.617 billion US dollars in 2023, according to official data from the World Bank. This data is based largely on internal markets, subsistence agriculture, and the export of raw commodities: foodstuffs to neighbors and raw minerals to world markets. Niger, a landlocked West African nation that straddles the Sahel, has consistently been ranked on the bottom of the Human Development Index, at 0.394 as of 2019. It has a very low per capita income, and ranks among the least developed and most heavily indebted countries in the world, despite having large raw commodities and a relatively stable government and society not currently affected by civil war or terrorism. Economic activity centers on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, re-export trade, and export of uranium.
The economy of the Republic of the Congo is a mixture of subsistence hunting and agriculture, an industrial sector based largely on petroleum extraction and support services. Government spending is characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. Petroleum has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy, providing a major share of government revenues and exports. Nowadays the Republic of the Congo is increasingly converting natural gas to electricity rather than burning it, greatly improving energy prospects.
The economy of Senegal is driven by mining, construction, tourism, fishing and agriculture, which are the main sources of employment in rural areas, despite abundant natural resources in iron, zircon, gas, gold, phosphates, and numerous oil discoveries recently. Senegal's economy gains most of its foreign exchange from fish, phosphates, groundnuts, tourism, and services. As one of the dominant parts of the economy, the agricultural sector of Senegal is highly vulnerable to environmental conditions, such as variations in rainfall and climate change, and changes in world commodity prices.
The economy of Togo has struggled greatly. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranks it as the tenth poorest country in the world, with development undercut by political instability, lowered commodity prices, and external debts. While industry and services play a role, the economy is dependent on subsistence agriculture, with industrialization and regional banking suffering major setbacks.
The economy of Mozambique is $14.396 billion by gross domestic product as of 2018, and has developed since the end of the Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992). In 1987, the government embarked on a series of macroeconomic reforms, which were designed to stabilize the economy. These steps, combined with donor assistance and with political stability since the multi-party elections in 1994, have led to dramatic improvements in the country's growth rate. Inflation was brought to single digits during the late 1990s, although it returned to double digits in 2000–02. Fiscal reforms, including the introduction of a value-added tax and reform of the customs service, have improved the government's revenue collection abilities.
The economy of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is largely underdeveloped with the vast majority of the population living below the poverty line. However, according to the Asian Development Bank its GDP is expected to grow 3.4% in 2022 and 4.6% in 2023. It is dominated by the agricultural, forestry, and fishing sector and the minerals and energy extraction sector. The agricultural, forestry, and fishing sector accounts for most of the labour force of PNG while the minerals and energy extraction sector, including gold, copper, oil and natural gas is responsible for most of the export earnings.
The economy of the Gambia is heavily reliant on agriculture. The Gambia has no significant mineral or other natural resources, and has a limited agricultural base. About 75% of the population depends on crops and livestock for its livelihood. Small-scale manufacturing activity features the processing of peanuts, fish, and animal hides.
Agriculture was the foundation of the economy in Ivory Coast and its main source of growth. In 1987 the agricultural sector contributed 35 percent of the country's GDP and 66 percent of its export revenues, provided employment for about two-thirds of the national work force, and generated substantial revenues despite the drop in coffee and cocoa prices. From 1965 to 1980, agricultural GDP grew by an average 4.6 percent per year. Growth of agricultural GDP from coffee, cocoa, and timber production, which totaled nearly 50 percent of Ivory Coast's export revenues, averaged 7 percent a year from 1965 to 1980.
With the world’s largest production of cacao and cashew nuts, Ivory Coast is one of the leading economic powers in West Africa. It joined the IMF in 1963. Since then, Ivory Coast participated in 14 arrangements and purchased more than 1016 millions in procurement and loans. It now possesses 650.4 million SDR of quotas.
Since becoming an independent country, Ivory Coast has transitioned from an economy dominated by agriculture—coffee and cocoa in particular—to a diversified economy with a large service sector. From 1960 to 1976, government policy focused on investing revenues from agricultural export into infrastructure. From 1976 to 1980, factors such as a boom-bust in coffee and cocoa prices, over-investment funded by foreign debt, and a devaluation of the US Dollar led Ivory Coast to the brink of financial crisis. Decreased revenues from coffee and cocoa exports continued into the 80's and early 90's, increasing the burden of foreign debt and eventually requiring lender negotiation. This resulted in the privatization of many state-owned enterprises with mixed levels of success. In 1994, the economy began a comeback due to devaluation of the CFA franc, increased export revenues, financial reforms, and debt rescheduling. Since then the economy has been impacted by and rebounded from political crises such as the 1999 coup d'état and the 2011 election crisis.