Guinea-Bissau Economy Profile 2009

Economy - overview

One of the five 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 fifth 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 1999-2002. 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. Offshore oil prospecting is underway in several sectors but has not yet led to commercially viable crude deposits. 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 from a lamentably low base. In December 2003, the World Bank, IMF, and UNDP were forced to step in to provide emergency budgetary support in the amount of $107 million for 2004, representing over 80% of the total national budget. Government drift and indecision, however, resulted in continued low growth in 2002-06. Higher raw material prices boosted growth in 2007 and 2008.

GDP (purchasing power parity)

$904.2 million (2008 est.)
$876.2 million (2007 est.)
$853.1 million (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$461 million (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

3.2% (2008 est.)
2.7% (2007 est.)
1.8% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

$600 (2008 est.)
$600 (2007 est.)
$600 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 62%
industry: 12%
services: 26% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line

NA%

Labor force

632,700 (2007)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 82%
industry and services: 18% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate

NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 28% (2002)

Budget

revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

3.8% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate

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

Stock of money

$NA (31 December 2008)
$142.5 million (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money

$NA (31 December 2008)
$12.04 million (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit

$NA (31 December 2008)
$46.44 million (31 December 2007)

Industries

agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks

Industrial production growth rate

4.7% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production

60 million kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption

55.8 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

2,520 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - imports

2,560 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

-$6 million (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products

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

Exports

$133 million (2006)

Exports - commodities

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

Exports - partners

India 74.8%, Nigeria 20.5%, Pakistan 0.7% (2008)

Imports

$200 million (2006)

Imports - commodities

foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products

Imports - partners

Portugal 24.6%, Senegal 17.3%, Pakistan 4.8%, France 4.6%, Cuba 4% (2008)

Debt - external

$941.5 million (2000 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares

$NA

Economic aid - recipient

$79.12 million (2005)

Currency (code)

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

Currency (code)

XOF; GWP

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