Economy of Equatorial Guinea

Economy of Equatorial Guinea

Malabo, largest city in Equatorial Guinea
Currency	Communauté Financière Africaine franc (XAF)
Fiscal year	calendar year
Trade organizations	AU, AfCFTA, ECCAS, UDEAC, WTO (observer)
Country group	Developing/Emerging[1] Upper-middle income economy[2]
Statistics
GDP	$12.142 billion (nominal, 2019 est.)[3] $28.970 billion (PPP, 2019 est.)[3]
GDP rank	135th (nominal, 2019) 132nd (PPP, 2019)
GDP growth	−4.7% (2017) −6.1% (2018) −4.3% (2019e) −2.3% (2020f)[4]
GDP per capita	$8,927 (nominal, 2019 est.)[3] $21,300 (PPP, 2019 est.)[3]
GDP per capita rank	71st (nominal, 2019) 61st (PPP, 2018)
GDP by sector	agriculture: 4.6%, industry: 87.3%, services: 8.1% (2013 est.)
Inflation (CPI)	1.7% (2020 est.)[3]
Population below poverty line	2/3 of the population (2020)[5]
Human Development Index	0.588 medium (2018)[6] (144th) N/A IHDI (2018)[7]
Unemployment	22.3% (2009)[8]
Main industries	petroleum, fishing, saw-milling, natural gas[8]
External
Exports	$15.44 billion (2013 est.)[8]
Main export partners	France 20.1%  China 15.1%  United States 12.6%  Spain 11.3%  Netherlands 8.3%  Belgium 6.4%  India 5.2% (2013 est.)[9]
Imports	$7.943 billion (2013 est.)
Main import partners	Spain 18.8%  China 16.5%  United States 11.1%  France 8.6%  Cameroon 7.1%  Italy 6.2%  Brazil 4.8% (2013 est.)[10]
Public finances
Government debt	external: $289 million (2006)
Revenues	$2.752 billion (2006)
Expenses	$1.424 billion (2006)
Economic aid	none
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Equatorial Guinea has traditionally been dependent on commodities such as cocoa and coffee, but is now heavily dependent on petroleum due to the discovery and exploitation of significant oil reserves in the 1980s.^[11] In 2017, it graduated from "Least Developed Country" status, one of six Sub-Saharan African nations that managed to do so.

However, despite the economic growth and improving infrastructure, the country has been ranked only 138th out of 188 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index in 2015 and despite its impressive GNI figure, it is still plagued by extreme poverty. After the oil price collapsed in 2014, the economy went into a free fall which put growth in a downward spiral from around 15% to −10%. Only 950,000 of 1.6 million inhabitants are citizens, giving Equatorial Guinea the largest ratio of expatriates to residents in Africa.