Cote d Ivoire Economy
Economy - overviewCote d'Ivoire is among the world's largest producers and exporters of coffee, cocoa beans, and palm oil. Consequently, the economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices for these products and to weather conditions. Despite government attempts to diversify the economy, it is still heavily dependent on agriculture and related activities, which engage roughly 68% of the population. After several years of lagging performance, the Ivorian economy began a comeback in 1994, due to the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc and improved prices for cocoa and coffee, growth in nontraditional primary exports such as pineapples and rubber, limited trade and banking liberalization, offshore oil and gas discoveries, and generous external financing and debt rescheduling by multilateral lenders and France. Moreover, government adherence to donor-mandated reforms led to a jump in growth to 5% annually during 1996-99. Growth was negative in 2000-03 because of the difficulty of meeting the conditions of international donors, continued low prices of key exports, and severe civil war. Political uncertainty will continue to cloud the economic outlook in 2004, but rising world prices for cocoa will help both the current account and the government balances.
GDP
purchasing power parity - $24.51 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
-1.9% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita
purchasing power parity - $1,400 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 36.6%
industry: 19.9%
services: 43.5% (2003 est.)
Investment
8.7% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line
37% (1995)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 28.8% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index
36.7 (1995)
Inflation rate
3.4% (2003 est.)
Labor force
6.64 million 68% agricultural (2003)
Unemployment rate
13% in urban areas (1998)
Budget
revenues: $2.339 billion
expenditures: $2.749 billion, including capital expenditures of $420 million (2003 est.)
Public debt
82.5% of GDP (2003)
Agriculture - products
coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber
Industries
foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity
Industrial production growth rate
15% (1998 est.)
Electricity - production
4.605 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption
2.983 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports
1.3 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production
11,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption
32,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports
NA (2001)
Oil - imports
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves
50 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production
1.35 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption
1.35 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves
14.87 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance
$501 million (2003)
Exports
$5.299 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities
cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish
Exports - partners
France 19.1%, Netherlands 17.7%, US 7.1%, Spain 5.6% (2003)
Imports
$2.781 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities
fuel, capital equipment, foodstuffs
Imports - partners
France 32.7%, Nigeria 14.4%, UK 7% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold
$2.005 billion (2003)
Debt - external
$11.85 billion (2003 est.)
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 - 581.2 (2003), 696.988 (2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699 (1999)
