Economy - overview The discovery and exploitation of large oil reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth in recent years. Farming, forestry, and fishing are also major components of GDP. Subsistence farming predominates. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the deterioration of the rural economy under successive brutal regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth. A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of the government's gross corruption and mismanagement. Businesses, for the most part, are owned by government officials and their family members. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium, iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold. The country responded favorably to the devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994.

GDP purchasing power parity - $660 million (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate NA%

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,500 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 46%
industry: 33%
services: 21% (1995 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 6% (1996 est.)

Labor force NA

Unemployment rate NA%

Budget
revenues: $47 million
expenditures: $43 million, including capital expenditures of $7 million (1996 est.)

Industries fishing, sawmilling

Industrial production growth rate 7.4% (1994 est.)

Electricity - capacity 5,000 kW (1995)

Electricity - production 20 million kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 48 kWh (1995)

Agriculture - products coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts, manioc; livestock; timber

Exports
total value: $197 million (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: petroleum, timber, cocoa
partners: US 34%, Japan 17%, Spain 13%, China 13%, Nigeria

Imports
total value: $248 million (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
commodities: petroleum, food, beverages, clothing, machinery
partners: Cameroon 40%, Spain 18%, France 14%, US 8%

Debt - external $254 million (1996 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $NA

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 1 April - 31 March

NOTE: The information regarding Equatorial Guinea 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 Equatorial Guinea Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Equatorial Guinea Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.