Ethiopia Economy

Is Ethiopia a wealthy country?

Ethiopia - the second most populous country in Africa - is a one-party state with a planned economy. For more than a decade before 2016, GDP grew at a rate between 8% and 11% annually – one of the fastest growing states among the 188 IMF member countries. This growth was driven by government investment in infrastructure, as well as sustained progress in the agricultural and service sectors. More than 70% of Ethiopia’s population is still employed in the agricultural sector, but services have surpassed agriculture as the principal source of GDP.

Ethiopia has the lowest level of income-inequality in Africa and one of the lowest in the world, with a Gini coefficient comparable to that of the Scandinavian countries. Yet despite progress toward eliminating extreme poverty, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world, due both to rapid population growth and a low starting base. Changes in rainfall associated with world-wide weather patterns resulted in the worst drought in 30 years in 2015-16, creating food insecurity for millions of Ethiopians.

The state is heavily engaged in the economy. Ongoing infrastructure projects include power production and distribution, roads, rails, airports and industrial parks. Key sectors are state-owned, including telecommunications, banking and insurance, and power distribution. Under Ethiopia's constitution, the state owns all land and provides long-term leases to tenants. Title rights in urban areas, particularly Addis Ababa, are poorly regulated, and subject to corruption.

Ethiopia’s foreign exchange earnings are led by the services sector - primarily the state-run Ethiopian Airlines - followed by exports of several commodities. While coffee remains the largest foreign exchange earner, Ethiopia is diversifying exports, and commodities such as gold, sesame, khat, livestock and horticulture products are becoming increasingly important. Manufacturing represented less than 8% of total exports in 2016, but manufacturing exports should increase in future years due to a growing international presence.

The banking, insurance, telecommunications, and micro-credit industries are restricted to domestic investors, but Ethiopia has attracted roughly $8.5 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), mostly from China, Turkey, India and the EU; US FDI is $567 million. Investment has been primarily in infrastructure, construction, agriculture/horticulture, agricultural processing, textiles, leather and leather products.

To support industrialization in sectors where Ethiopia has a comparative advantage, such as textiles and garments, leather goods, and processed agricultural products, Ethiopia plans to increase installed power generation capacity by 8,320 MW, up from a capacity of 2,000 MW, by building three more major dams and expanding to other sources of renewable energy. In 2017, the government devalued the birr by 15% to increase exports and alleviate a chronic foreign currency shortage in the country.

Ethiopia Economy Data

What is the GDP of Ethiopia?

Currency Name and Code birr (ETB)
GDP - Gross Domestic Product (PPP) $264,050,000,000 (USD)
GDP - official exchange rate $69,220,000,000 (USD)
GDP - real growth rate 6.5%
GDP Per Capita $1,900.00 (USD)
GDP by Sector- agriculture 36.2%
GDP by Sector- Industry 17%
GDP by Sector- services 46.8%
GDP - composition, by end use household consumption: 65.9%

government consumption: 10.2%

investment in fixed capital: 37.6%

investment in inventories: -0.1%

exports of goods and services: 8.7%

imports of goods and services: -22.3%
Population Below Poverty Line 29.6%
Inflation Rate 9.1%
Labor Force 50,970,000
Labor Force By Occupation- agriculture 85%
Labor Force By Occupation- industry 5%
Labor Force By Occupation- services 10%
Unemployment Rate 17.5%
Fiscal Year 8 July - 7 July
Annual Budget $10,070,000,000 (USD)
Budget Surplus or Deficit - percent of GDP -2.6%
Public Debt (% of GDP) 54.2%
Taxes and other revenues - percent of GDP 14.6%
Major Industries food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, garments, chemicals, metals processing, cement
Industrial Growth Rate 9%
Agriculture Products cereals, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, vegetables, khat, cut flowers; hides, cattle, sheep, goats; fish
Exchange Rate per US Dollar 23.25
Child Labor - % of children ages 5-14 53%
Child Labor - # of children ages 5-14 10,693,164
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate 12.2%

Labor Force by Occupation- As reported by Ethiopia

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