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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. In 2007 higher costs for energy and imported foodstuffs, as well as low cotton prices, dampened a GDP growth rate that had averaged 6% in the last 10 years. Burkina Faso received a Millennium Challenge Account threshold grant to improve girls' education at the primary school level, and appears likely to receive a grant in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, and land reform.

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

5.2% (2007 est.)

Labor Force

Array

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.)

Unemployment Rate

77% (2004)

Population Below Poverty Line

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)

Budget

Revenues: $1.415 billion

Expenditures: $1.847 billion (2007 est.)

Central Bank Discount Rate

4.25% (31 December 2007)

Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate

Stock of Narrow Money

Stock of Broad Money

Stock of Domestic Credit

$905.1 million (31 December 2007)

Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares

$NA

Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold

$1.029 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt External

$1.33 billion (2007)

Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home

Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad

Exchange Rates

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003)

Note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro

Year	2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

GDP Official Exchange Rate

$6.977 billion 2007 est.

GDP Purchasing Power Parity

$17.41 billion (2007 est.)

GDP Real Growth Rate

4.2% (2007 est.)

GDP Per Capital

$1,200 (2007 est.)

Gross National Saving

GDP Composition by end Use

GDP Composition by Sector of Origin

Agriculture
29.7%
Industry
19.4%
Services
50.9% (2007 est.)

Inflation Rate Consumer Prices

-0.2% (2007 est.)

Current Account Balance

-$706 million (2007 est.)

Exports

$617 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports Partners

China
29.6%
Singapore
15.7%
Thailand
7.2%
Ghana
6.4%
Niger
4.8%

Exports Commodities

Cotton, livestock, gold

Imports

$1.296 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports Partners

Cote
d'Ivoire
France
20.6%
Togo
7.1%

Imports Commodities

Capital goods, foodstuffs, petroleum

Burkina Faso