Equatorial Guinea Economy Profile 2002

Economy - overview

The discovery and exploitation of large oil reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth in recent years. Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP. Subsistence farming predominates. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the neglect of the rural economy under successive regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth (the government has stated its intention to reinvest some oil revenue into agriculture). A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of corruption and mismanagement. No longer eligible for concessional financing because of large oil revenues, the government has been unsuccessfully trying to agree on a "shadow" fiscal management program with the World Bank and IMF. Businesses, for the most part, are owned by government officials and their family members. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium, iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold. Boosts in production and higher world oil prices stimulated growth in 2002, with oil accounting for 90% of increased exports.

GDP (purchasing power parity)

purchasing power parity - $1.04 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

6% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

purchasing power parity - $2,100 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 20%
industry: 60%
services: 20% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line

NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

6% (2001 est.)

Labor force

NA

Unemployment rate

30% (1998 est.)

Budget

revenues: $200 million
expenditures: $158 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Industries

petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas

Industrial production growth rate

7.4% (1994 est.)

Electricity - production

22 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel: 91%
hydro: 9%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2000)

Electricity - consumption

20.46 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports

0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products

coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts; livestock; timber

Exports

$2.1 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.)

Exports - commodities

petroleum, timber, cocoa

Exports - partners

China 24%, Japan 7%, US 7%, South Korea 5% (1999)

Imports

$736 million f.o.b. (2001)

Imports - commodities

petroleum sector equipment, manufactured goods and equipment

Imports - partners

US 60%, France 12%, Spain 8%, Italy 6% (1999)

Debt - external

$225 million (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient

$33.8 million (1995) (1995)

Currency

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

Currency (code)

XAF

Exchange rates

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XAF per euro

Fiscal year

1 January - 31 December