Economy of Guinea-Bissau

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Economy of Guinea-Bissau
Currency	CFA Franc
Fiscal year	Calendar Year
Trade organisations	AU, WTO
Statistics [1]
GDP ranking	191st (2004) [2]
GDP	$1.008 billion (2004)
GDP growth	2.6% (2004)
GDP per capita	$700 (2004)
GDP by sector	agriculture (62%), industry (12%), services (26%) (1999)
Inflation	4% (2002)
Pop below poverty line	N/A (2004)
Labour force	480,000 (1999)
Labour force by occupation	agriculture (82%)(2000)
Unemployment	N/A (1998)
Main industries	agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks
Trading Partners [3]
Exports	$54 million (2002)
Export - Commodities	cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber
Main partners	India 54.9%, U.S. 24.2%, Nigeria 12.7%, Italy 4.1% (2004)
Imports	$104 million (2002)
Imports - Commodities	foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products
Main Partners	Senegal 23.4%, Portugal 20.4%, the People's Republic of China 8.2%, Netherlands 5.8% (2004)
Public finances [4]
Public debt	N/A (2004)
Revenues	N/A (2004)
Expenses	N/A (2004)
Economic aid	$115.4 million (recipient)(1995)

Economy - overview: Guinea-Bissau is among the world's least developed nations and one of the 20 poorest countries in the world, and depends mainly on agriculture and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. License fees for fishing provide the government with some revenue. Rice is the major crop and staple food.

This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Guinea-Bissau at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund and EconStats with figures in millions of CFA Francs.

Year	Gross Domestic Product
1990	70,699
1995	124,100
2000	153,400
2005	280,000

Current GDP per capita of Guinea-Bissau grew just 3.40% in the turbulent Seventies and reached a peak growth of 71% in the Eighties. But this proved unsustainable and it consequently shrank by 34% in the Nineties.

Intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999. Agricultural production is estimated to have fallen by 17% during the conflict, and the civil war led to a 28% overall drop in GDP in 1998. Cashew nut output, the main export crop, declined in 1998 by an estimated 30%. World cashew prices dropped by more than 50% in 2000, compounding the economic devastation caused by the conflict. Real GDP has steadily grown at an average of 2.3% from 2003 onwards.

Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Under the government’s post-conflict economic and financial program, implemented with IMF and World Bank input, real GDP recovered in 1999 by almost 8%. In December 2000 Guinea-Bissau qualified for almost $800 million in debt-service relief under the first phase of the enhanced HIPC initiative and is scheduled to submit its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper in March 2002. Guinea-Bissau will receive the bulk of its assistance under the enhanced HIPC initiative when it satisfies a number of conditions, including implementation of its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. It produces 400,000 barrels/day of petrol.