| Economy - overview | Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for almost half of GDP, 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent drought and poor cultivation practices. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy with exports of some $350 million in 2006, but historically low prices have seen many farmers switching to qat to supplement income. The war with Eritrea in 1998-2000 and recurrent drought have buffeted the economy, in particular coffee production. In November 2001, Ethiopia qualified for debt relief from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and in December 2005 the IMF voted to forgive Ethiopia's debt to the body. Under Ethiopia's land tenure system, the government owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; the system continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans. Drought struck again late in 2002, leading to a 3.3% decline in GDP in 2003. Normal weather patterns helped agricultural and GDP growth recover in 2004-06. |
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| GDP | 3% (2006) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 10.6% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 46.7%
industry: 12.9%
services: 40.4% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 38.7% (FY05/06 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 33.7% (1995) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 30 (2000) |
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| Labor force | 27.27 million (1999) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 80%
industry: 8%
services: 12% (1985) |
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| Unemployment rate | NA% |
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| Budget | revenues: $2.679 billion
expenditures: $3.388 billion; including capital expenditures of $788 million (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, chemicals, metals processing, cement |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 7.4% (2001 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 2.294 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 1.3%
hydro: 97.6%
nuclear: 0%
other: 1.2% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 2.133 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - consumption | 29,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - exports | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - imports | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - proved reserves | 214,000 bbl (1 January 2002) |
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| Agriculture - products | cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, qat, cut flowers; hides, cattle, sheep, goats; fish |
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| Exports | $1.085 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | coffee, qat, gold, leather products, live animals, oilseeds |
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| Exports - partners | Germany 15.5%, China 10.5%, Japan 8.5%, Saudi Arabia 6.9%, Djibouti 6.8%, Switzerland 6.4%, Italy 5.9%, US 5.5%, Netherlands 4.2% (2005) |
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| Imports | $4.105 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, cereals, textiles |
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| Imports - partners | Saudi Arabia 14.7%, China 12.6%, US 12.4%, India 6.7%, Italy 4.6% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $6.038 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $1.6 billion (FY05/06) |
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| Currency code | ETB |
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| Exchange rates | birr per US dollar - 8.69 (2006), 8.68 (2005), 8.6356 (2004), 8.5997 (2003), 8.5678 (2002)
note: since 24 October 2001 exchange rates are determined on a daily basis via interbank transactions regulated by the Central Bank |
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| Fiscal year | 8 July - 7 July |
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