Economy - overview:
The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - a nation endowed with vast potential wealth - is slowly recovering from decades of decline. Systemic corruption since independence in 1960 and conflict that began in May 1997 has dramatically reduced national output and government revenue, increased external debt, and resulted in the deaths of more than 5 million people from violence, famine, and disease. Foreign businesses curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict, lack of infrastructure, and the difficult operating environment. Conditions began to improve in late 2002 with the withdrawal of a large portion of the invading foreign troops. The transitional government reopened relations with international financial institutions and international donors, and President KABILA began implementing reforms. Progress has been slow and the International Monetary Fund curtailed their program for the DRC at the end of March 2006 because of fiscal overruns. Much economic activity still occurs in the informal sector, and is not reflected in GDP data. Renewed activity in the mining sector, the source of most export income, boosted Kinshasa's fiscal position and GDP growth from 2006-2008, however, the government's review of mining contracts that began in 2006, combined with a fall in world market prices for the DRC's key mineral exports temporarily weakened output in 2009, leading to a balance of payments crisis. The recovery in mineral prices beginning in mid 2009 boosted mineral exports, and emergency funds from the IMF boosted foreign reserves. An uncertain legal framework, corruption, a lack of transparency in government policy are long-term problems for the mining sector and the economy as a whole. The global recession cut economic growth in 2009 to less than half its 2008 level, but growth returned to 3% in 2010. The DRC signed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF in 2009 and received $12 billion in multilateral and bilateral debt relief in 2010.
GDP (purchasing power parity): GDP (official exchange rate): GDP - real growth rate: GDP - per capita (PPP): GDP - composition by sector: Labor force: Labor force - by occupation: Unemployment rate: Population below poverty line: Household income or consumption by percentage share: Budget: Inflation rate (consumer prices): Central bank discount rate: Commercial bank prime lending rate: Stock of narrow money: Stock of broad money: Stock of domestic credit: Market value of publicly traded shares: Agriculture - products: Industries: Industrial production growth rate: Electricity - production: Electricity - consumption: Electricity - exports: Electricity - imports: Oil - production: Oil - consumption: Oil - exports: Oil - imports: Oil - proved reserves: Natural gas - production: Natural gas - consumption: Natural gas - exports: Natural gas - imports: Natural gas - proved reserves: Current account balance: Exports: Exports - commodities: Exports - partners: Imports: Imports - commodities: Imports - partners: Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: Debt - external: Exchange rates:
NOTE: The information regarding Congo, Democratic Republic of the on this page is re-published from the 2011 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Economy 2011 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Congo, Democratic Republic of the Economy 2011 should be addressed to the CIA.
$22.92 billion (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 119
note:
data are in 2010 US dollars
[see also: GDP (purchasing power parity) country ranks ]
$12.6 billion (2009 est.)
[see also: GDP (official exchange rate) country ranks ]
3% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 120
[see also: GDP - real growth rate country ranks ]
$300 (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 230
note:
data are in 2010 US dollars
[see also: GDP - per capita country ranks ]
agriculture: 37.4%
[see also: GDP - composition by sector - agriculture country ranks ]
industry:
26%
[see also: GDP - composition by sector - industry country ranks ]
services:
36.6% (2000 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition by sector - services country ranks ]
23.53 million (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 26
[see also: Labor force country ranks ]
agriculture: NA%
[see also: Labor force - by occupation - agriculture country ranks ]
industry:
NA%
[see also: Labor force - by occupation - industry country ranks ]
services:
NA%
[see also: Labor force - by occupation - services country ranks ]
NA%
[see also: Unemployment rate country ranks ]
NA%
[see also: Population below poverty line country ranks ]
lowest 10%: 2.3%
[see also: Household income or consumption by percentage share - lowest 10% country ranks ]
highest 10%:
34.7%
[see also: Household income or consumption by percentage share - highest 10% country ranks ]
revenues: $700 million
[see also: Budget - revenues country ranks ]
expenditures:
$2 billion (2006 est.)
[see also: Budget - expenditures country ranks ]
26.2% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 223
[see also: Inflation rate (consumer prices) country ranks ]
70% (31 December 2009)
country comparison to the world: 2
[see also: Central bank discount rate country ranks ]
65.42% (31 December 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 4
[see also: Commercial bank prime lending rate country ranks ]
$613.9 million (31 December 2008)
[see also: Stock of narrow money country ranks ]
$1.562 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
[see also: Stock of broad money country ranks ]
$NA (31 December 2008)
[see also: Stock of domestic credit country ranks ]
$NA
[see also: Market value of publicly traded shares country ranks ]
coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits; wood products
mining (diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, coltan, zinc, tin, diamonds), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement, commercial ship repair
NA%
[see also: Industrial production growth rate country ranks ]
8.217 billion kWh (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 98
[see also: Electricity - production country ranks ]
5.997 billion kWh (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 105
[see also: Electricity - consumption country ranks ]
1.916 billion kWh (2007 est.)
[see also: Electricity - exports country ranks ]
6 million kWh (2007 est.)
[see also: Electricity - imports country ranks ]
16,360 bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 78
[see also: Oil - production country ranks ]
10,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 149
[see also: Oil - consumption country ranks ]
20,090 bbl/day (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 92
[see also: Oil - exports country ranks ]
11,350 bbl/day (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 137
[see also: Oil - imports country ranks ]
180 million bbl (1 January 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 60
[see also: Oil - proved reserves country ranks ]
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 184
[see also: Natural gas - production country ranks ]
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 196
[see also: Natural gas - consumption country ranks ]
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 187
[see also: Natural gas - exports country ranks ]
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 189
[see also: Natural gas - imports country ranks ]
991.1 million cu m (1 January 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 98
[see also: Natural gas - proved reserves country ranks ]
-$1.47 billion (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 150
[see also: Current account balance country ranks ]
$3.8 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 119
[see also: Exports country ranks ]
diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, wood products, crude oil, coffee
China 46.75%, US 15.35%, Belgium 10.68%, Zambia 5.78%, Finland 4.38% (2009)
$5.2 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 112
[see also: Imports country ranks ]
foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels
South Africa 18.22%, Belgium 10.2%, China 8.34%, Zambia 7.77%, France 7.28%, Zimbabwe 6.52%, Kenya 5.48%, Netherlands 4.13%, Italy 3.96% (2009)
$1.01 billion (March 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 110
[see also: Reserves of foreign exchange and gold country ranks ]
$4.3 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 112
[see also: Debt - external country ranks ]
Congolese francs (CDF) per US dollar - 930 (2010), 810 (2009), 559 (2008), 516 (2007), 464.69 (2006)
This page was last modified 09-Feb-11