Economy of Eritrea

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The Eritrean economy was badly damaged by the border war with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000 and by a drought lasting several years . The gross domestic product of Eritrea was estimated in 2014 at 3.858 billion US dollars, equivalent to 755 US dollars per capita. Precise information cannot be given, as the government does not publish any economic data or budgets. Thus Eritrea is one of the poorest countries in the world. The inflation was in the same year at 12%. Eritrea's external debt in 2006 was 717.22 million US dollars. Since the government does not publish economic data, much of the data is estimated.

Agriculture

About 80% of the population work in agriculture. At the same time, agriculture contributes 23% to the gross domestic product. The harvest yields are strongly dependent on the climate. Even in good harvest years , Eritrea could not feed more than 60% of the population. Mainly coffee, millet, fruit and cotton are grown. Shrimp, lobster and crabs are caught on the coast. The catch in 2006 was 12,000 tons.

Natural resources

The country has significant mineral resources. These include gold, copper, silver and zinc. An Eritrean-Canadian consortium has been mining these natural resources since the end of 2010 . The country also has barite , feldspar and kaolin deposits . The barite deposits are estimated at 1.4 million tons, the feldspar deposits at 200,000 tons and the kaolin deposits at 2.5 million tons. Some other natural resources are potash, salt, gypsum, granite, asbestos and marble.

Industry

Industry contributes 22% to the gross domestic product. Of this, the construction industry alone contributes 10% to the gross domestic product. The construction industry is almost entirely state-owned after the private construction industry was banned in 2006. All Eritrean banks are also state-owned, although 60% of the NICE shares were sold to Eritrean investors due to the intended privatization.

tourism

Tourism is insignificant in Eritrea, as this branch of the economy is so far underdeveloped. In 2006, 78,000 visitors were counted, 79% of them from abroad. Tourism revenue was $ 60 million that same year.

Foreign trade

Export products are food, livestock, textiles and industrial goods. The main imports are machinery, vehicles, food, finished goods, chemicals and chemical products. In 2006, $ 556.67 million worth of goods were imported and $ 68.43 million worth of goods were exported, creating a significant trade deficit.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The World Bank - World Development Indicators, http://data.worldbank.org/country/eritrea , accessed December 2, 2015
  2. erwaertiges-amt.de: Eritrea - Wirtschaft , as of March 2011, accessed on August 27, 2011