The 2004 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Faso
has few natural resources, a fragile soil, and a highly unequal
distribution of income. About 90% of the population is engaged in
(mainly subsistence) agriculture, which is vulnerable to variations
in rainfall. Cotton is the key crop. Industry remains dominated by
unprofitable government-controlled corporations. Following the
African franc currency devaluation in January 1994 the government
updated its development program in conjunction with international
agencies, and exports and economic growth have increased.
Maintenance of macroeconomic progress depends on continued low
inflation, reduction in the trade deficit, and reforms designed to
encourage private investment. The internal crisis in neighboring
Cote d'Ivoire continues to hurt trade and industrial prospects and
deepens the need for international assistance.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $14.55 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5.2% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 39.8% industry: 19.6% services: 40.5% (2003)
Investment (gross fixed):
29% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line:
45% (2003 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 46.8% (1994)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
48.2 (1994)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.9% (2003 est.)
Labor force:
5 million
note: a large part of the male labor force migrates annually to
neighboring countries for seasonal employment (2003)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 90% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA
Budget:
revenues: $599.8 million
expenditures: $748.8 million NA, including capital expenditures of
NA (2003)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, peanuts, shea nuts, sesame, sorghum, millet, corn, rice;
livestock
Industries:
cotton lint, beverages, agricultural processing, soap, cigarettes,
textiles, gold
Industrial production growth rate:
14% (2001 est.)
Electricity - production:
279.2 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption:
259.6 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
8,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Current account balance:
$-341 million (2003)
Exports:
$293 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities:
cotton, livestock, gold
Exports - partners:
Singapore 12.8%, China 11.6%, Thailand 8%, Italy 6.4%, India 6%,
Colombia 5.2%, Ghana 5.2%, France 4.8%, Niger 4% (2003)
Imports:
$633.6 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities:
capital goods, foodstuffs, petroleum
Imports - partners:
France 31.2%, Cote d'Ivoire 14.6%, Togo 9%, Belgium 5% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$379 million (2003)
Debt - external:
$1.3 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient:
$484.1 million (1995)
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 - 581.2
(2003), 696.988 (2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699
(1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Burkina Faso
Telephones - main lines in use:
65,400 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
227,000 (2003)
Telephone system:
general assessment: all services only fair
domestic: microwave radio relay, open-wire, and radiotelephone
communication stations
international: country code - 226; satellite earth station - 1
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 3, FM 17, shortwave 3 (2002)
Radios:
394,020 (2000)
Television broadcast stations:
1 (2002)
Televisions:
131,340 (2002)
Internet country code:
.bf
Internet hosts:
442 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1 (2002)
Internet users:
48,000 (2003)
Transportation Burkina Faso
Railways:
total: 622 km
narrow gauge: 622 km 1.000-m gauge
note:: another 660 km of this railway extends into Cote D'Ivoire
(2003)
Highways: total: 12,506 km paved: 2,001 km unpaved: 10,505 km (1999)