Economy - overview:
One of the poorest countries in the world, landlocked Burkina Faso has few natural resources and a weak industrial base. About 90% of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture, which is vulnerable to periodic drought. Cotton is the main cash crop and the government has joined with three other cotton producing countries in the region - Mali, Niger, and Chad - to lobby in the World Trade Organization for fewer subsidies to producers in other competing countries. Since 1998, Burkina Faso has embarked upon a gradual but successful privatization of state-owned enterprises. Having revised its investment code in 2004, Burkina Faso hopes to attract foreign investors. Thanks to this new code and other legislation favoring the mining sector, the country has seen an upswing in gold exploration and production. While the bitter internal crisis in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire is beginning to be resolved, it is still having a negative effect on Burkina Faso's trade and employment. Burkina Faso received a Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) threshold grant to improve girls' education at the primary school level, and signed an MCC compact that focuses on the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, and land reform in July, 2008.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$17.82 billion (2008 est.)
$17.05 billion (2007)
$16.46 billion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate):
$8.242 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
4.5% (2008 est.)
3.6% (2007 est.)
5.5% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita:
$1,200 (2008 est.)
$1,200 (2007 est.)
$1,100 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 29.1%
industry: 19.9%
services: 51% (2008 est.)

Labor force:
5 million
note: a large part of the male labor force migrates annually to neighboring countries for seasonal employment (2003)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 90%
industry and services: 10% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate:
77% (2004)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 32.2% (2004)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
39.5 (2007)

Investment (gross fixed):
24.5% of GDP (2008 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.799 billion
expenditures: $2.337 billion (2008 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
7.3% (2008 est.)

Central bank discount rate:
4.25% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:
NA

Stock of money:
$1.051 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:
$663 million (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:
$905.1 million (31 December 2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA

Agriculture - products:
cotton, peanuts, shea nuts, sesame, sorghum, millet, corn, rice; livestock

Industries:
cotton lint, beverages, agricultural processing, soap, cigarettes, textiles, gold

Industrial production growth rate:
4.5% (2008 est.)

Electricity - production:
611.6 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption:
509.3 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:
8,470 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports:
8,446 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:
-$908 million (2008 est.)

Exports:
$809 million f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Exports - commodities:
cotton, livestock, gold

Exports - partners:
China 29.6%, Singapore 15.7%, Thailand 7.2%, Ghana 6.4%, Niger 4.8% (2007)

Imports:
$1.665 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Imports - commodities:
capital goods, foodstuffs, petroleum

Imports - partners:
Cote d'Ivoire 25.8%, France 20.6%, Togo 7.1% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.264 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Debt - external:
$1.33 billion (2007)