Economy - overview With independence from Ethiopia on 27 April 1993, Eritrea faced thebitter economic problems of a small, desperately poor African country. Mostof the population must continue to depend on subsistence farming. Domesticoutput (GDP) is substantially augmented by worker remittances from abroad.Government revenues come from custom duties and income and sales taxes. Roadconstruction is a top domestic priority. Shortages persist in housing, education,and health care. Eritrea has inherited the entire coastline of Ethiopia andhas long-term prospects for revenues from the development of offshore oil,offshore fishing, and tourism. Ethiopia is largely dependent on Eritrean portsfor its foreign commerce.

GDP purchasing power parity - $2 billion (1995 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 3.9% (1995 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $570 (1995 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 19%
industry: 18%
services : 63% (1995 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 8% (1995 est.)

Labor force NA

Unemployment rate NA%

Budget
revenues : $214 million
expenditures: $397 million, including capital expenditures of $78 million (1995 est.)

Industries food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles

Industrial production growth rate NA%

Electricity - capacity 73,000 kW (1995)

Electricity - production NA kWh

Electricity - consumption per capita NA kWh

Agriculture - products sorghum, lentils, vegetables, maize, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal(for making rope); livestock (including goats); fish

Exports
total value: $81 million (1995 est.)
commodities: livestock, sorghum, textiles
partners: Ethiopia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UK, US, Yemen

Imports
total value : $404 million (1995 est.)
commodities: processed goods, machinery, petroleum products
partners: Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Italy, United Arab Emirates

Debt - external $162 million (1995 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency 1 birr (Br) = 100 cents; at present, Ethiopian currency used; note -new Eritrean currency, the nakfa, to be circulated in 1997

Exchange rates birr (Br) per US$1 (end of the period) - 6.4260 (December 1996), 6.4260(1996), 6.3200 (1995), 5.9500 (1994), 5.000 (fixed rate 1992-93); note - following independence from Ethiopia, Eritrea continued to use Ethiopian currency
note: since May 1993, the birr market rate has been determined in an interbankmarket supported by weekly wholesale auction; prior to that date, the officialrate was pegged to US$1 = 5.000 birr

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Eritrea on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Eritrea Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Eritrea Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.