Economy Guinea-Bissau
Economy - overview: One of the 10 poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2001. Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. However, unexploited offshore oil reserves could provide much-needed revenue in the long run. The inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.2 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 7.2% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $900 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 54% industry: 15% services: 31% (1997 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 42.4% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 480,000