Economy - overview:
In January 1994, Senegal undertook a bold and ambitious economic reform program with the support of the international donor community. This reform began with a 50% devaluation of Senegal's currency, the CFA franc, which was linked at a fixed rate to the French franc. Government price controls and subsidies have been steadily dismantled. After seeing its economy contract by 2.1% in 1993, Senegal made an important turnaround, thanks to the reform program, with real growth in GDP averaging 5% annually during 1995-2002. Annual inflation had been pushed down to less than 1%, but rose to an estimated 3.3% in 2001 and 3.0% in 2002. Investment rose steadily from 13.8% of GDP in 1993 to 16.5% in 1997. As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with a unified external tariff. Senegal also realized full Internet connectivity in 1996, creating a miniboom in information technology-based services. Private activity now accounts for 82% of GDP. In 2003, GDP will probably again grow at about 5%. On the negative side, Senegal faces deep-seated urban problems of chronic unemployment, trade union militancy, juvenile delinquency, and drug addiction.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $16.2 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 18%
industry: 27%
services: 55% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
54% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 33.5% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
41.3 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
NA
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 70%
Unemployment rate:
48% (urban youth 40%) (2001 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $1.373 billion
expenditures: $1.373 billion, including capital expenditures of $357 million (2002 est.)
Industries:
agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials
Industrial production growth rate:
8.1% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
1.518 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
1.412 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
31,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; cattle, poultry, pigs; fish
Exports:
$1.15 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
fish, groundnuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton
Exports - partners:
India 18.0%, France 15.6%, Italy 9.0%, Mali 5.9% (2000)
Imports:
$1.46 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
foods and beverages, capital goods, fuels
Imports - partners:
France 27.4%, Nigeria 18.9%, Germany 5.3%, Italy 3.6%, US (2000)
Debt - external:
$3.1 billion (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$362.6 million (2002 est.)
Currency:
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Currency code:
XOF
Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 696.988 (2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699 (1999), 589.952 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
NOTE: The information regarding Senegal on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Senegal Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
