Africa > Burundi > Economy

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Agriculture > products coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc; beef, milk, hides
Aid as % of GDP	13.5%		[21st of 129]
Debt > External	$1,200,000,000.00		[108th of 136]
Distribution of family income > Gini index	42.4		[19th of 43]
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.
Exchange rates Burundi francs per US dollar - 1,100.91 (2004), 1,082.62 (2003), 930.75 (2002), 830.35 (2001), 720.67 (2000)
Exports	$44,000,000.00		[151st of 189]
GDP	$806,617,200.00		[151st of 203]
GDP > PPP	$4,957,000,000.00		[139th of 163]
GDP > Real growth rate	3.6%		[134th of 198]
GDP growth > annual %	0.91 annual %		[160th of 187]
GINI index	42.39		[21st of 40]
Gross National Income	$692,344,000.00		[144th of 172]
Human Development Index	0.378		[170th of 178]
Income category	Low income
Income distribution > Poorest 10%	1.8%		[86th of 114]
Income distribution > Richest 10%	32.9%		[40th of 114]
Population below poverty line	68%		[5th of 46]
Research and development spending	0.3%		[51st of 69]
Tourist arrivals	11,000		[147th of 152]

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