Economy of Gabon

Template:Short description Template:More footnotes needed Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox economyThe economy of Gabon is characterized by strong links with France, large foreign investments, dependence on skilled foreign labor, and decline of agriculture.<ref name = Britannica>Template:Cite web</ref> Gabon on paper enjoys a per capita income four times that of most nations of Africa, but its reliance on resource extraction industry fail to release much of the population from extreme poverty, as much of 30% of the population lives under the poverty threshold (Many Foreign Guest Workers). Gabon has a free market economy<ref>https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/GAB</ref>, while other sources claim that Gabon has a mixed economic system with a heavy reliance on oil, combined with relatively weak centralized economic planning and government regulation.<ref>https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/gabon</ref><ref>https://globaledge.msu.edu/blog/post/57283/shocking-coup-shakes-gabon--how-businesses-can-thrive-amidst-chaos</ref>

Resources

The country is rich in natural resources such as timber, manganese and oil. The country is the fifth largest oil producing nation in Africa, which has helped drive its strong growth in the later 20th century.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

The oil sector now accounts for 50% of GDP and 80% of exports. Although there have been recent offshore finds,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> oil production is now declining from its peak of Template:Convert in 1997, and periods of low oil prices have had a negative impact on government revenues and the economy. In 2012 there were six active oil rigs in Gabon.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

As of 2023, Gabon produces about 200,000 barrels a day (bpd) of crude oil.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The government has plans to diversify its economy away from its dwindling oil reserves.<ref name=":0" /> The government announced in 2012 that it would reassess exactly how much iron ore the Belinga site contains before awarding the concession to a mining company, most likely to be China's CMEC, which temporarily secured the rights to the ore in 2007.<ref>Reuters, "Gabon's Belinga iron-ore deal to be awarded as late as 2014", Mining Weekly (30 August 2012)</ref>

Around 80% of Gabonese live in cities. The capital city, Libreville is home to 59% of the total population. The remainder of the country is still sparsely populated, as those areas remain densely forested.<ref name=":0" />

Statistics

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5.7%
industry: 57.2%
services: 37% (2008 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2008 est.)

Labour force: 592,000 (2008 est.)

Labour force - by occupation: agriculture 60%, services and government 25%, industry and commerce 15% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate: 21% (2006 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $4.46 billion
expenditures: $2.75 billion (2008 est.)

Industries: food and beverage; textile; lumbering and plywood; cement; petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, uranium, and gold mining; chemical production; ship repair

Industrial production growth rate: 1.5% (2008)

Oil - production Template:Convert (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption Template:Convert (2007 est.)

Oil - exports Template:Convert (2005 est.)

Oil - imports Template:Convert (2005 est.)

Oil - proven reserves Template:Convert (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production 100 million cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas - consumption 100 million cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas - exports 0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports 0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proven reserves 28.32 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Electricity - production: 1.671 TWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 27.8%
hydro: 72.2%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 1.365 GWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical hardwood); fish

Current account - balance $591 million (2010 est.)

Currency: 1 Communauté financière africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Communauté financière africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 – 507.71 (2010), 472.19 (2009), 447.81 (2008), 481.83 (2007), 522.89 (2006), 647.25 (January 2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996), 499.15 (1995)
note: since 1 January 1999, the CFAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA francs per euro

Statistics table

The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Year	GDP (in bil. US$ PPP)	GDP per capita (in US$ PPP)	GDP (in bil. US$ nominal)	GDP growth (real)	Inflation (in Percent)	Government debt (Percentage of GDP)
1980	6.78	9,056	4.56	...	12.3%	...
1985	9.89	11,853	3.74	5.8%	7.3%	...
1990	12.00	12,903	6.34	5.1%	15.4%	90%
1995	15.76	14,788	5.28	5.0%	9.6%	73%
2000	17.35	14,395	5.40	−1.9%	0.5%	72%
2005	20.35	14,923	9.47	−0.8%	1.2%	49%
2006	20.58	14,720	10.16	−1.9%	−1.4%	40%
2007	22.46	15,601	12.46	6.3%	−1.0%	39%
2008	23.30	15,590	15.57	1.7%	−5.3%	20%
2009	22.94	14,789	12.19	−2.3%	1.9%	26%
2010	24.68	15,326	14.38	6.3%	1.4%	21%
2011	26.97	16,138	18.21	7.1%	1.3%	21%
2012	28.91	16,665	17.18	5.3%	2.7%	21%
2013	31.00	17,196	17.60	5.5%	0.5%	31%
2014	32.96	18,020	18.21	4.4%	4.5%	34%
2015	34.61	18,655	14.39	3.9%	−0.1%	45%
2016	35.78	19,017	14.02	2.1%	2.1%	64%
2017	36.73	19,254	14.92	0.8%	3.0%	61%
2018	40.78	20,123	16.83	0.4%	2.0%	62%

See also

• Agriculture in Gabon
• Economy of Africa
• Forestry in Gabon
• List of companies based in Gabon
• Mining in Gabon
• Transport in Gabon
• Chronology of Gabon
• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

External links

• Gabon latest trade data on ITC Trade Map
• MBendi Gabon overview
• The Quicker Ticker- Gabon (in french) Template:Webarchive
• Legabon.org
• Gaboneco.com