Sierra Leone Economy - 2006

Economy - overview:
Sierra Leone is an extremely poor African nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its economic and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. About two-thirds of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings, accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement government revenues. The IMF has completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and reduce inflation. A recent increase in political stability has led to a revival of economic activity, such as the rehabilitation of bauxite mining.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$5.022 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$1.107 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.5% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$900 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 49%
industry: 31%
services: 21% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
1.369 million (1981 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Unemployment rate:
NA%

Population below poverty line:
68% (1989 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 43.6% (1989)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
62.9 (1989)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1% (2002 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $96 million
expenditures: $351 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Agriculture - products:
rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish

Industries:
diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

Electricity - production:
260.6 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
242.4 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
0.8361 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:
6,510 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2003 est.)

Exports:
$185 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish

Exports - partners:
Belgium 61.4%, Germany 11.8%, US 5.4% (2004)

Imports:
$531 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals

Imports - partners:
Germany 14.3%, UK 9.3%, Cote d'Ivoire 8.9%, US 8.6%, China 5.7%, Netherlands 5.1%, South Africa 4.2%, France 4.1% (2004)

Debt - external:
$1.61 billion (2003 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$297.4 million (2003 est.)

Currency (code):
leone (SLL)

Exchange rates:
leones per US dollar - 2,889.6 (2005), 2,701.3 (2004), 2,347.9 (2003), 2,099 (2002), 1,986.2 (2001)