Economy Overview
Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with more than 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Economic growth depends on coffee and tea exports, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports, therefore, rests primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices. The Tutsi minority, 14% of the population, dominates the government and the coffee trade at the expense of the Hutu majority, 85% of the population. An ethnic-based war that lasted for over a decade resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced more than 48,000 refugees into Tanzania, and displaced 140,000 others internally. Only one in two children go to school, and approximately one in 15 adults has HIV/AIDS. Food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply. Burundi's GDP grew around 5% annually in 2006-07. Political stability and the end of the civil war have improved aid flows and economic activity has increased, but underlying weaknesses - a high poverty rate, poor education rates, a weak legal system, and low administrative capacity - risk undermining planned economic reforms. Burundi will continue to remain heavily dependent on aid from bilateral and multilateral donors; the delay of funds after a corruption scandal cut off bilateral aid in 2007 reduced government's revenues and its ability to pay salaries.
Agriculture Products
coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides
Industries
light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing
Industrial Production Growth Rate
6.4% (2007 est.)
Labor Force
2.99 million (2002)
Electricity production
87 million kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity Consumption
120.9 million kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity Exports
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity Imports
40 million kWh; note - supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2007 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 1.7%
Highest 10%: 32.8% (1998)
Distribution of Family Income Gini Index
42.4 (1998)
Budget
Revenues: $264.2 million
Expenditures: $335.4 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2007 est.)
Central Bank Discount Rate
10.12% (31 December 2007)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Domestic Credit
$342 million (31 December 2007)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$NA
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$177.1 million (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt External
$1.2 billion (2003)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
Exchange Rates
Burundi francs (BIF) per US dollar - 1,065 (2007), 1,030 (2006), 1,138 (2005), 1,100.91 (2004), 1,082.62 (2003)
