Benin
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| Introduction - Benin: | | Location - Benin: | | People - Benin: | | Government - Benin: | | Economy - Benin: | Economy overview | The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth in real output has averaged around 5% in the past six years, but rapid population growth has offset much of this increase. Inflation has subsided over the past several years. In order to raise growth still further, Benin plans to attract more foreign investment, place more emphasis on tourism, facilitate the development of new food processing systems and agricultural products, and encourage new information and communication technology. Specific projects to improve the business climate by reforms to the land tenure system, the commercial justice system, and the financial sector were included in Benins $307 million Millennium Challenge Account grant signed in February 2006. The 2001 privatization policy continues in telecommunications, water, electricity, and agriculture in spite of government reluctance. The Paris Club and bilateral creditors have eased the external debt situation, with Benin benefiting from a G8 debt reduction announced in July 2005, while pressing for more rapid structural reforms. Benin continues to be hurt by Nigerian trade protection that bans imports of a growing list of products from Benin and elsewhere, which has resulted in increased smuggling and criminality in the border region. | | Gdp purchasing power parity | $8.989 billion (2006 est.) | | Gdp official exchange rate | $4.622 billion (2006 est.) | | Gdp real growth rate | 4% (2006 est.) | | Gdp per capita ppp | $1,100 (2006 est.) | | Gdp composition by sector | agriculture: 32.8%
industry: 13.7%
services: 53.5% (2006 est.) | | Labor force | 3.211 million (1996) | | Unemployment rate | NA% | | Population below poverty line | 33% (2001 est.) | | Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% | | Inflation rate consumer prices | 3% (2006 est.) | | Investment gross fixed | 19.1% of GDP (2006 est.) | | Budget | revenues: $836.8 million
expenditures: $1.064 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) | | Agriculture products | cotton, corn, cassava (tapioca), yams, beans, palm oil, peanuts, cashews; livestock | | Industries | textiles, food processing, construction materials, cement | | Industrial production growth rate | 8.3% (2001 est.) | | Electricity production | 82 million kWh (2004) | | Electricity consumption | 576.3 million kWh (2004) | | Electricity exports | 0 kWh (2004) | | Electricity imports | 500 million kWh (2004) | | Oil production | 0 bbl/day (2004) | | Oil consumption | 14,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) | | Oil exports | NA bbl/day | | Oil imports | NA bbl/day | | Oil proved reserves | 8.21 million bbl (1 January 2005) | | Natural gas production | 0 cu m (2004 est.) | | Natural gas consumption | 0 cu m (2004 est.) | | Natural gas proved reserves | 1.133 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) | | Current account balance | -$342.7 million (2006 est.) | | Exports | $563.1 million f.o.b. (2006 est.) | | Exports commodities | cotton, cashews, shea butter, textiles, palm products, seafood | | Exports partners | China 21%, Indonesia 7.8%, India 7.1%, Netherlands 6.3%, Niger 5.7%, Togo 4.6%, Nigeria 4.4% (2006) | | Imports | $927.3 million f.o.b. (2006 est.) | | Imports commodities | foodstuffs, capital goods, petroleum products | | Imports partners | China 47.3%, France 7.6%, Thailand 6.1% (2006) | | Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $607.3 million (2006 est.) | | Debt external | $1.6 billion (2000) | | Economic aid recipient | $342.6 million (2000) | | Currency code | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | | Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002) | |
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This page was last updated on 16 September, 2007
Source: CIA >>> |
