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. Growth
will remain strong in 2003, led by oil.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $1.27 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
20% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,700 (2002 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% (2002 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:
30% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
23.56 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 94.3%
hydro: 5.7%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
21.91 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
181,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
2,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
563.5 million bbl (37257)
Natural gas - production:
20 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
20 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
68.53 billion cu m (37257)
Agriculture - products:
coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil
nuts; livestock; timber
Exports:
$2.5 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
petroleum, methanol, timber, cocoa
Exports - partners:
US 28.3%, Spain 25.3%, China 17.4%, Canada 10.6%, France 4.9% (2002)
Imports:
$562 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
petroleum sector equipment, other equipment
Imports - partners:
US 29.1%, Spain 15.9%, UK 14.8%, France 10.4%, Norway 7.2%,
Netherlands 4.8%, Italy 4.7% (2002)
Debt - external:
$248 million (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$33.8 million (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 - 696.99
(2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.7 (1999), 589.95 (1998)
Fiscal year:
1 January - 31 December