Economy Overview
Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural; agriculture accounts for just over 40% of GDP and employs more than 90% of the population. Burundi's primary exports are coffee and tea, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings, though exports are a relatively small share of GDP. Therefore, Burundi's export earnings - and its ability to pay for imports - rests primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices. An ethnic-based war that lasted until 2005 resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced more than 48,000 refugees into Tanzania, and displaced 140,000 others internally. Food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply. Burundi's GDP grew around 4% annually in 2006-14. 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, a poor transportation network, overburdened utilities, and low administrative capacity - risk undermining planned economic reforms. Government corruption is hindering the development of a healthy private sector as companies have to deal with ever changing rules. The purchasing power of most Burundians has decreased as wage increases have not kept up with inflation. Burundi will remain heavily dependent on aid from bilateral and multilateral donors - foreign aid represents 42% of Burundi's national income, the second highest rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. Burundi joined the East African Community (EAC) in 2009, and regional infrastructure improvements driven by the EAC and funded by the World Bank may help improve Burundi’s transport connections and lower transportation costs.
Agriculture Products
coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, cassava (manioc, tapioca); beef, milk, hides
Industries
light consumer goods (blankets, shoes, soap, beer); assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing
Industrial Production Growth Rate
6% (2014 est.)
Labor Force
4.806 million (2014 est.)
Labor Force by Occupation
Agriculture: 93.6%
Industry: 2.3%
Services: 4.1% (2002 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
68% (2002 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 4.1%
Highest 10%: 28% (2006)
Distribution of Family Income Gini Index
42.4 (1998)
Budget
Revenues: $847.3 million
Expenditures: $933.2 million (2014 est.)
Public Debt
38.6% of GDP (2013 est.)
Central Bank Discount Rate
10% (31 December 2009)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Narrow Money
$375.2 million (31 December 2013 est.)
Stock of Broad Money
$521.6 million (31 December 2013 est.)
Stock of Domestic Credit
$617.5 million (31 December 2013 est.)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$NA
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$329.4 million (31 December 2013 est.)
Debt External
$705.8 million (31 December 2013 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
Exchange Rates
1,230.8 (2010 est.)
