Gambia, The Economy:
The Gambia has no significant mineral or natural resource deposits and has a limited agricultural base. About 75% of the population depends on crops and livestock for its livelihood. Small-scale manufacturing activity features the processing of peanuts, fish, and hides. Reexport trade normally constitutes a major segment of economic activity, but a 1999 government-imposed preshipment inspection plan, and instability of the Gambian dalasi (currency) have drawn some of the reexport trade away from The Gambia. The government's 1998 seizure of the private peanut firm Alimenta eliminated the largest purchaser of Gambian groundnuts; the following two marketing seasons saw substantially lower prices and sales. Despite an announced program to begin privatizing key parastatals, no plans have been made public that would indicate that the government intends to follow through on its promises. Unemployment and underemployment rates remain extremely high; short-run economic progress depends on sustained bilateral and multilateral aid, on responsible government economic management, on continued technical assistance from the IMF and bilateral donors, and on expected growth in the construction sector.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$2.8 billion (2004 est.)
GDP — real growth rate:
6% (2004 est.)
GDP — per capita:
purchasing power parity: $1,800 (2004 est.)
GDP — composition by sector:
agriculture: 26.8%
industry: 14.5%
services: 58.7%
(2004)
Labor force:
400,000 (1996 est.)
Labor force — by occupation:
agriculture: 75%, industry, commerce, and services: 19%, government: 6%
Unemployment rate:
NA (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
7% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
25.3% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $44.85 million
expenditures: $59.94 million including capital expenditures of $4.1 million (2004 est.)
Agriculture — products:
Rice, millet, sorghum, peanuts, corn, sesame, cassava (tapioca), palm kernels; cattle, sheep, goats
Industries:
processing peanuts, fish, and hides; tourism; beverages; agricultural machinery assembly, woodworking, metalworking; clothing
Industrial production growth rate:
NA
Electricity — production:
90.31 million kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity — consumption:
83.99 million kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity — exports:
0 kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity — imports:
0 kWh (2002 est.)
Oil — production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil — consumption:
1,900 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil — exports:
NA
Oil — imports:
NA
Current account balance:
$-16.4 million (2004 est.)
Exports:
$114.4 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.)
Exports — commodities:
peanut products, fish, cotton lint, palm kernels, re-exports
Exports — partners:
India 21.4%, Thailand 15.1%, UK 13.7%, France 12.9%, Germany 8.7%, Italy 7.5% (2004)
Imports:
$180.9 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.)
Imports — commodities:
foodstuffs, manufactures, fuel, machinery and transport equipment
Imports — partners:
China 23.7%, Senegal 11.6%, Brazil 5.9%, UK 5.5%, Netherlands 4.5%, US 4.4% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$113.1 million (2004 est.)
Debt — external:
$476 million (2001 est.)
Economic aid — recipient:
$45.4 million (1995 est.)
Currency:
dalasi (GMD)
Exchange rates:
dalasi per US$: 27.31 (2003 est.), 27.31 (2003 est.), 19.92 (2002 est.), 15.69 (2001 est.), 12.79 (2000 est.)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
|
