Overview: About 40% of GDP comes from the agricultural sector; coffee and tea make up 80-90% of total exports. The amount of fertile land is limited, however, and deforestation and soil erosion have created problems. The industrial sector in Rwanda is small, contributing less than 20% to GDP. Manufacturing focuses mainly on the processing of agricultural products. The Rwandan economy remains dependent on coffee exports and foreign aid, with no relief in sight. Weak international prices since 1986 have caused the economy to contract and per capita GDP to decline.

GDP: $2.3 billion, per capita $325; real growth rate - 2.5% (1988 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (1988)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $413 million; expenditures $522 million, including capital expenditures of $230 million (1988 est.)

Exports: $118 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--coffee 85%, tea, tin, cassiterite, wolframite, pyrethrum; partners--FRG, Belgium, Italy, Uganda, UK, France, US

Imports: $278 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--textiles, foodstuffs, machines and equipment, capital goods, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material; partners--US, Belgium, FRG, Kenya, Japan

External debt: $645 million (December 1989 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 1.2% (1988)

Electricity: 26,000 kW capacity; 112 million kWh produced, 15 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: mining of cassiterite (tin ore) and wolframite (tungsten ore), tin, cement, agricultural processing, small-scale beverage production, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes

Agriculture: cash crops--coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums); main food crops--bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; stock raising; self-sufficiency declining; country imports foodstuffs as farm production fails to keep up with a 3.8% annual growth in population

Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $118 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.7 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $45 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $58 million

Currency: Rwandan franc (plural--francs); 1 Rwandan franc (RF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Rwandan francs (RF) per US$1--78.99 (December 1989), 79.98 (1989), 76.45 (1988), 79.67 (1987), 87.64 (1986), 101.26 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Rwanda on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Rwanda Economy 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Rwanda Economy 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.