Economy - overview:
Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its
land area desert or semidesert and with a highly unequal
distribution of income. Economic activity is largely confined to the
riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10% of the population is
nomadic and some 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and
fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm
commodities. Mali is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable
to fluctuations in world prices for cotton, its main export, along
with gold. The government has continued its successful
implementation of an IMF-recommended structural adjustment program
that is helping the economy grow, diversify, and attract foreign
investment. Mali's adherence to economic reform and the 50%
devaluation of the African franc in January 1994 have pushed up
economic growth to a sturdy 5% average in 1996-2002. Worker
remittances and external trade routes have been jeopardized by
continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $9.775 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4.5% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $900 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 45%
industry: 17%
services: 38% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
64% average; 30% of the total population living in urban areas; 70%
of the total population living in rural areas) (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 40.4% (1994)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
50.5 (1994)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.5% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
3.93 million (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture and fishing 80% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate:
14.6% urban areas; 5.3% rural areas (2001 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $764 million
expenditures: $828 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(2002 est.)
Industries:
food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production:
480.2 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 41.7%
hydro: 58.3%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
446.6 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing
electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
4,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep,
goats
Exports:
$680 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
cotton, gold, livestock
Exports - partners:
Thailand 13.9%, Italy 9.8%, India 7.7%, Brazil 5.5%, Germany 5%,
Spain 4.9%, Portugal 4.3%, Taiwan 4.3% (2002)
Imports:
$630 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials,
foodstuffs, textiles
Imports - partners:
Cote d'Ivoire 17.1%, France 13.5%, Senegal 6.5%, Germany 4% (2002)
Debt - external:
$3.3 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient:
$596.4 million (2001)
Currency:
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible
authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Currency code:
XOF
Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 696.99
(2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.7 (1999), 589.95 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year