Economy - overview Cote 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 attempts by the government to diversify the economy, it is still largely dependent on agriculture and related activities, which engage roughly 85% of the population. After several years of lagging performance, the Ivorian economy began a comeback in 1994, due to 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. The 50% devaluation of Franc Zone currencies on 12 January 1994 caused a one-time jump in the inflation rate to 26% in 1994, but the rate fell to 7% in 1996 and an estimated 3.4% in 1997. Moreover, government adherence to donor-mandated reforms led to a jump in growth rates - 6.5% in GDP in 1996 and again in 1997.

GDP purchasing power parity - $25.8 billion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 6.5% (1997 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,700 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 31%
industry: 20%
services: 49% (1995)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 3.4% (1997 est.)

Labor force NA

Unemployment rate NA%

Budget
revenues: $2.4 billion
expenditures: $2.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $600 million (1996 est.)

Industries foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, automobile assembly, textiles, fertilizer, construction materials, electricity

Industrial production growth rate 9% (first half of 1996)

Electricity - capacity 1.173 million kW (1995)

Electricity - production 1.875 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 127 kWh (1995)

Agriculture - products coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar; cotton, rubber; timber

Exports
total value: $4.2 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: cocoa 36%, coffee 22%; tropical woods 4%, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, cotton, fish
partners: France 18%, Germany 8%, Italy 8%, Netherlands 8%, Burkina Faso, Mali, US, UK

Imports
total value: $3.2 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: food, consumer goods; capital goods, fuel, transport equipment
partners: France 32%, Nigeria 20%, US 6%, Ghana, Germany, Italy

Debt - external $16.1 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $552 million (1993)

Currency 1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates CFA francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 608.36 (January 1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996), 499.15 (1995), 555.20 (1994), 283.16 (1993)
note: beginning 12 January 1994, the CFA franc was devalued to CFAF 100 per French franc from CFAF 50 at which it had been fixed since 1948

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Cote d'Ivoire on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cote d'Ivoire Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cote d'Ivoire Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.