Rwanda

Economy - overview:
Rwanda is a poor rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa and is landlocked with few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary foreign exchange earners are coffee and tea. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda’s fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and eroded the country’s ability to attract private and external investment. However, Rwanda has made substantial progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy to pre-1994 levels, although poverty levels are higher now. GDP has rebounded and inflation has been curbed. Despite Rwanda’s fertile ecosystem, food production often does not keep pace with population growth, requiring food imports. Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid money and obtained IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative debt relief in 2005-06. Rwanda also received Millennium Challenge Account Threshold status in 2006. The government has embraced an expansionary fiscal policy to reduce poverty by improving education, infrastructure, and foreign and domestic investment and pursuing market-oriented reforms, although energy shortages, instability in neighboring states, and lack of adequate transportation linkages to other countries continue to handicap growth.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$9.061 billion (2008 est.)
$8.429 billion (2007)
$7.952 billion (2006)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$4.027 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
7.5% (2008 est.)
6% (2007 est.)
5.5% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$900 (2008 est.)
$900 (2007 est.)
$800 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 35%
industry: 22.1%
services: 42.9% (2008 est.)
Labor force:
4.6 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 90%
industry and services: 10% (2000)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 38.2% (2000)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
46.8 (2000)
Investment (gross fixed):
22.5% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $902.2 million
expenditures: $1.032 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9.5% (2008 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
12.5% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
15.84% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$233.6 million (31 December 2005)
Stock of quasi money:
$227.4 million (31 December 2005)
Stock of domestic credit:
$209.2 million (31 December 2005)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA
Agriculture - products:
coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock
Industries:
cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes
Industrial production growth rate:
8% (2008 est.)
Electricity - production:
134 million kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
234.6 million kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:
10 million kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
130 million kWh (2007 est.)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:
5,320 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:
5,597 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
56.63 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:
-$220 million (2008 est.)
Exports:
$219 million f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Exports - commodities:
coffee, tea, hides, tin ore
Exports - partners:
China 8.9%, Germany 6.8%, US 4.9%, Hong Kong 4.8% (2007)
Imports:
$759 million f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material
Imports - partners:
Kenya 19.6%, Uganda 6.9%, Germany 6.2%, Belgium 5.9%, China 5% (2007)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$657 million (31 December 2008 est.)
Debt - external:
$1.4 billion (2004 est.)
Exchange rates:
Rwandan francs (RWF) per US dollar - 550 (2008 est.), 585 (2007), 560 (2006), 610 (2005), 574.62 (2004)