| Economy - overview: | Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with more than 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Economic growth depends on coffee and tea exports, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports, therefore, rests primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices. The Tutsi minority, 14% of the population, dominates the government and the coffee trade at the expense of the Hutu majority, 85% of the population. Since October 1993 an ethnic-based war has resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced 450,000 refugees into Tanzania, and displaced 140,000 others internally. Only one in two children go to school, and approximately one in ten adults has HIV/AIDS. Food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply. Political stability and the end of the civil war have improved aid flows and economic activity has increased, but underlying weaknesses - a high poverty rate, poor education rates, a weak legal system, and low administrative capacity - risk undermining planned economic reforms. |
| GDP - per capita | $700 (2005 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate (%) | 5.5% (2005 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides |
| GDP - composition by sector (%) | agriculture: 45.6%, industry: 20.8%, services: 33.6% (2005 est.) |
| Industries | light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing |
| Economic aid - recipient | $105.5 million (2003) |
| Debt - external | $1.2 billion (2003) |
| Population below poverty line (%) | 68% (2002 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation (%) | agriculture 93.6%, industry 2.3%, services 4.1% (2002 est.) |
Environment, Land use / Resources, Economy, Population / Demographics, Infrastructure, Health -- CIA World Factbook, 2005
