| Economy - overview | Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert and with a highly unequal distribution of income. Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10% of the population is nomadic and some 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. Mali is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for cotton, its main export, along with gold. The government has continued its successful implementation of an IMF-recommended structural adjustment program that is helping the economy grow, diversify, and attract foreign investment. Mali's adherence to economic reform and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a sturdy 5% average in 1996-2006. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire. |
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| GDP | 1.9% (2006) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 5.1% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 45%
industry: 17%
services: 38% (2001 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 64% (2001 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 40.4% (1994) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 50.5 (1994) |
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| Labor force | 3.93 million (2001 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 80%
industry and services: 20% (2001 est.) |
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| Unemployment rate | 14.6% (2001 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $764 million
expenditures: $828 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.) |
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| Industries | food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining |
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| Industrial production growth rate | NA% |
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Electricity -
production | 410 million kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 41.7%
hydro: 58.3%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 381.3 million kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (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 | 4,300 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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| Agriculture - products | cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats |
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| Exports | $323 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | cotton, gold, livestock |
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| Exports - partners | China 29.4%, Thailand 10.1%, Taiwan 7.8%, Italy 5.3%, Bangladesh 4.5%, France 4.4% (2005) |
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| Imports | $1.858 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles |
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| Imports - partners | France 13%, Senegal 13%, Cote d'Ivoire 8.4% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $2.8 billion (2002) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $472.1 million (2002) |
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| Currency code | XOF |
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| 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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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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