Overview: The economic and social infrastructure is not well developed. Subsistence agriculture dominates the economy, generating about one-third of GDP and employing about two-thirds of the working population. Manufacturing accounts for less than 10% of GDP, consisting mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Diamond mining provides an important source of hard currency. The economy suffers from high unemployment, rising inflation, large trade deficits, and a growing dependency on foreign assistance. The government in 1990 was attempting to get the budget deficit under control and, in general, to bring economic policy in line with the recommendations of the IMF and the World Bank.

GDP: $1,302 million, per capita $325; real growth rate 1.8% (FY89)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): over 100% (1990)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $134 million; expenditures $187 million, including capital expenditures of $32 million (FY91 est.)

Exports: $138 million (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--rutile 50%, bauxite 17%, cocoa 11%, diamonds 3%, coffee 3%; partners--US, UK, Belgium, FRG, other Western Europe

Imports: $183 million (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--capital goods 40%, food 32%, petroleum 12%, consumer goods 7%, light industrial goods; partners--US, EC, Japan, China, Nigeria

External debt: $632 million (1990 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate - 19% (FY88 est.); accounts for 8% of GDP

Electricity: 83,000 kW capacity; 180 million kWh produced, 45 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: mining (diamonds, bauxite, rutile), small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear), petroleum refinery

Agriculture: accounts for over 30% of GDP and two-thirds of the labor force; largely subsistence farming; cash crops--coffee, cocoa, palm kernels; harvests of food staple rice meets 80% of domestic needs; annual fish catch averages 53,000 metric tons

Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $161 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $698 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $18 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $101 million

Currency: leone (plural--leones); 1 leone (Le) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: leones per US$1--196.0784 (January 1991), 144.9275 (1990), 58.1395 (1989), 31.2500 (1988), 30.7692 (1987), 8.3963 (1986), 4.7304 (1985)

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

NOTE: The information regarding Sierra Leone on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sierra Leone Economy 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sierra Leone Economy 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.