Economy of Eritrea

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Economy of Eritrea

A view of Asmara
Currency	Eritrean nakfa (ERN)
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	AU, COMESA, AfDB
Statistics
GDP	$2.22 billion (nominal, 2021)[1] $6.88 billion (PPP, 2021)[1]
GDP rank	156th (nominal) / 156th (PPP)
GDP growth	7.6% (16/17) 10.2% (17/18) 7.9% (18/19e) 7.9% (19/20f)[2]
GDP per capita	$626 (nominal, 2021) $1,910 (PPP, 2021)[1]
GDP by sector	agriculture (11.7%), industry (29.6%), services (58.7%) (2017 est.)
Inflation (CPI)	−14.401% (2018)[1]
Population below poverty line	50% (2004 est.)
Labour force	2.71 million (2017 est.)
Labour force by occupation	agriculture (80%), services and industry (20%)
Main industries	beverages, cement, clothing and textiles, food processing, light manufacturing, salt
External
Exports	$635.7 million (2017 est.)
Export goods	food, livestock, small manufactures, sorghum, textiles
Main export partners	Italy 30.5%  Sudan 24%  Saudi Arabia 8.8%  China 8.5%  UK 5.7%  Egypt 4.8% (2008 est.)
Imports	$1.127 billion (2017 est.)
Import goods	machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods
Main import partners	Saudi Arabia 15.7%  Egypt 11.9%  China 11.1%  India 8.9%  Russia 7.2%  South Africa 6.5%  Brazil 5.9%  South Korea 4.3% (2008 est.)
Gross external debt	$1.026 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Public finances
Government debt	131.2% of GDP (2017 est.)
Revenues	$2.029 billion (2017 est.)
Expenses	$2.601 billion (2017 est.)
Foreign reserves	$236.7 million (2017 est.)
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Eritrea has undergone extreme changes after the War of Independence. It experienced considerable growth in recent years, indicated by an improvement in gross domestic product in 2011 of 8.7 percent and in 2012 of 7.5% over 2011,^[3] and has a total of $8.090 billion as of 2020. However, worker remittances from abroad are estimated to account for 32 percent of gross domestic product.^[4]

Eritrea has an extensive amount of resources such as copper, gold, granite, marble, and potash. As of 2012, 20 mining companies had obtained licenses to prospect and exploit mines.