 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(November 2024) |
 Ouagadougou, thefinancial centre of Burkina Faso | |
| Currency | CFA Franc (XOF) |
|---|---|
| Calendar year | |
Trade organisations | AU,AfCFTA,CEN-SAD,WTO |
Country group | |
| Statistics | |
| Population |  23,025,776 (2023)[3] |
| GDP | |
| GDP rank | |
GDP growth | |
GDP per capita | |
GDP per capita rank | |
GDP by sector |
|
| 4.2% (2024)https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG?locations=BF | |
Population belowpoverty line | |
| 35.3medium (2014)[7] | |
Labour force | |
Labour force by occupation | agriculture 90%, industry and services 10% (2000 est.) |
| Unemployment | 5% (2023) |
Main industries | cotton,beverages,agricultural processing,soap,cigarettes,textiles,gold |
| External | |
| Exports | $5.87 billion (2023) |
Export goods | gold,cotton,livestock,sesame seeds |
Main export partners | |
| Imports | $7.31 billion (2023) |
Import goods | capital goods, foodstuffs, petroleum |
Main import partners | |
FDI stock | n/av |
Grossexternal debt | $5.6 billion (2024) |
| Public finances | |
| 52.7% of GDP (2024 est.) | |
 $0.049 billion (31 December 2017) | |
| Revenues | $2.666 billion (2017 est.) |
| Expenses | $3.655 billion (2017 est.) |
| |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are inUS dollars. | |
Theeconomy of Burkina Faso is based primarily on subsistence farming and livestock raising.[15]Burkina Faso has an average income purchasing-power-parity per capita of $2,851 and nominal per capita of $1,005 in 2024. More than 80% of the population relies onsubsistence agriculture with only a small fraction directly involved inindustry andservices. Highly variable rainfall, poorsoils, lack of adequate communications and otherinfrastructure, a low literacy rate, and a stagnant economy are all longstanding problems of this landlocked country. Theexport economy also remained subject to fluctuations in world prices.
The country has a high population density, fewnatural resources, and a fragilesoil. Industry remains dominated by unprofitable government-controlled corporations.[citation needed] Following the African franc currency devaluation in January 1994 the government updated its development program in conjunction with international agencies, and exports and economic growth have increased. Maintenance of itsmacroeconomic progress depends on continued low inflation, reduction in the trade deficit, and reforms designed to encourage private investment.
The Burkinabé financial system represents 30% of the country's GDP and is dominated by the banking sector, which accounts for 90% of total financial system assets. Eleven banks and fivenon-bank financial institutions operate in the country.
The banking sector is highly concentrated, with the three largest banks holding nearly 60% of total financial sector assets. Banks are generally adequately capitalized, but remain vulnerable due to their overexposure to the cotton sector, the prices of which are subject to significant oscillations.
A December 2018 report from the World Bank indicates that cotton had become the most important cash crop, while gold exports were increasing in recent years. In 2017, economic growth increased to 6.4% in 2017 (vs. 5.9% in 2016) primarily due to gold production and increased investment in infrastructure. The increase in consumption linked to growth of the wage bill also supported economic growth. Inflation remained low, 0.4% that year but the public deficit grew to 7.7% of GDP (vs. 3.5% in 2016). The government was continuing to get financial aid and loans to finance the debt. To finance the public deficit, the Government combined concessional aid and borrowing on the regional market. The World Bank said that the economic outlook remained favorable in the short and medium term, although that could be negatively impacted. Risks included high oil prices (imports), lower prices of gold and cotton (exports) as well as terrorist threat and labour strikes.[16]
| Year | Gross Domestic Product in bn US$ nominal | Gross Domestic Product Per capita in US$ nominal | Gross Domestic Product in bn US$ PPP | Gross Domestic Product Per capita in US$ PPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 2.39 | 338 | 2.72 | 386 |
| 2000 | 2.96 | 249 | 11.33 | 953 |
| 2010 | 10.12 | 628 | 24.85 | 1,542 |
| 2015 | 11.83 | 666 | 37.57 | 1,989 |
| 2020 | 17.84 | 829 | 51.39 | 2,387 |
| 2024 | 23.98 | 1,005 | 67.99 | 2,851 |
For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US Dollar is exchanged at 470.70 CFA Francs only. Mean wages were $0.56 perman-hour in 2009.
Current GDP per capita[18] of Burkina Faso grew 13% in the Sixties reaching a peak growth of 237% in the Seventies. But this proved unsustainable and growth consequently scaled back to 23% in the Eighties. Finally, it shrank by 37% in the Nineties. Average wages in 2007 hover around 2 to 3 dollars per day.
Although disadvantaged by an extremely resource-deprived domestic economy, Burkina Faso remains committed to thestructural adjustment program it launched in 1991. It has largely recovered from the devaluation of the CFA in January 1994, with a 1996 growth rate of 5.9%.
Many Burkinabé migrate to neighbouring countries for work, and their remittances provide a substantial contribution to the balance of payments. Burkina Faso is attempting to improve the economy by developing itsmineral resources, improving its infrastructure, making itsagricultural and livestock sectors more productive and competitive, and stabilizing the supplies and prices ofcereals.
The agricultural economy remains highly vulnerable to fluctuations in rainfall. TheMossi Plateau in north central Burkina Faso faces encroachment from theSahara. The resultant southward migration means heightened competition for control of very limitedwater resources south of the Mossi Plateau. Most of the population ekes out a living as subsistence farmers, living with problems of climate,soil erosion, and rudimentary technology. The staple crops arepearl millet,sorghum,maize, andrice. The cash crops arecotton,groundnuts,karite (shea nuts), andsesame. Livestock, once a major export, has declined.
A 2018 report by the African Development Bank Group discussed a macroeconomic evolution: "higher investment and continued spending on social services and security that will add to the budget deficit". This group's prediction for 2018 indicated that the budget deficit would be reduced to 4.8% of GDP in 2018 and to 2.9% in 2019. Public debt associated with the National Economic and Social Development Plan was estimated at 36.9% of GDP in 2017.[19]
Burkina Faso produced in 2018:
In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.[20]
Industry, still in an embryonic stage, is located primarily inBobo-Dioulasso,Ouagadougou,Banfora, andKoudougou. Manufacturing is limited tofood processing,textiles, and other import substitution heavily protected bytariffs. Somefactories are privately owned, and others are set to be privatized. Burkina Faso's exploitable natural resources are limited, although amanganeseore deposit is located in the remote northeast.Gold mining has increased greatly since the mid-1980s and, along with cotton, is a leading export money earner. However, both gold and cotton are listed as goods produced mostly by child labor and forced labor according to a recentU.S. Department of Labor report.[21]
According to the United States Department of Labor[22] in 2012, 37.8% of children in Burkina Faso aged 5-14 were working, while another 13.6% were both going to school and working.
Children working in granite quarries and gold mines were working 6 to 7 days a week for up to 14 hours per day. So-called "payment" is in the form of food to eat and a place to sleep. Since that time, the government has adopted a National Action Plan, and in collaboration with Interpol, have since have rescued many children from child trafficking.[22]
By 2023, the percentage of children working in Burkina Faso had dropped slightly to 35.7%, according to the United States' Department of Labor.[23]
Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) has partnered with EDUCO, a fellow member of theChildFund Alliance, to implement a European Union-funded project in north Burkina to prevent children from working in mines.[24]A 2023 Burkinabé government study found that in the north of the country, 30.1% of children work permanently in gold mine.[25]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material fromThe World Factbook.CIA.