Economy - overview:
Subsistence agriculture, together with forestry, remains the backbone of the economy of the Central African Republic (CAR), with more than 70% of the population living in outlying areas. The agricultural sector generates half of GDP. Timber has accounted for about 16% of export earnings and the diamond industry for 54%. Important constraints to economic development include the CAR's landlocked position, a poor transportation system, a largely unskilled work force, and a legacy of misdirected macroeconomic policies. Factional fighting between the government and its opponents remains a drag on economic revitalization, with GDP growth likely to be no more than 1.3% in 2003. Distribution of income is extraordinarily unequal. Grants from France and the international community can only partially meet humanitarian needs.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $4.7 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
1% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 55%
industry: 20%
services: 25% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.7%
highest 10%: 47.7% (1993)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
61.3 (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.6% (2001 est.)
Labor force:
NA
Unemployment rate:
8% (23% for Bangui) (2001 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Industries:
diamond mining, logging, brewing, textiles, footwear, assembly of bicycles and motorcycles
Industrial production growth rate:
3% (2002)
Electricity - production:
106 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 19.8%
hydro: 80.2%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
98.63 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
2,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, coffee, tobacco, manioc (tapioca), yams, millet, corn, bananas; timber
Exports:
$134 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
diamonds, timber, cotton, coffee, tobacco
Exports - partners:
Belgium 53%, Kazakhstan 9%, Spain 9% (2001)
Imports:
$102 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
food, textiles, petroleum products, machinery, electrical equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals
Imports - partners:
France 26%, Cameroon 13%, Spain 5%, Benelux, Cote d'Ivoire, Germany, Japan (2001)
Debt - external:
$881.4 million (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA $73 million; note - traditional budget subsidies from France (2000 est.)
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 - 696.988 (2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699 (1999), 589.952 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
NOTE: The information regarding Central African Republic on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Central African Republic Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
