Economy of Sierra Leone

Economy - overview: Sierra Leone has substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources. However, the economic and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. About two-thirds of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Bauxite and rutile mines have been shut down by civil strife. The major source of hard currency is found in the mining of diamonds, the large majority of which are smuggled out of the country. The resurgence of internal warfare in 1999 brought another substantial drop in GDP. The fate of the economy in 2000 depends on the mid-1999 peace accord holding and the rebels reopening territory under their control.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $2.5 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: -10% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $500 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 52%
industry: 16%
services: 32% (1996)

Population below poverty line: 68% (1989 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 43.6% (1989)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 30% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 1.369 million (1981 est.)
note: only about 65,000 wage earners (1985)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $96 million
expenditures: $150 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1996 est.)

Industries: mining (diamonds); small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 235 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 219 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish

Exports: $41 million (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports - commodities: diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish

Exports - partners: Benelux 49%, Spain 10%, United States 8%, United Kingdom 3% (1997)

Imports: $166 million (f.o.b., 1998)

Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals

Imports - partners: United Kingdom 24%, Côte d'Ivoire 14%, Benelux 10%, United States 8% (1997)

Debt - external: $1.15 billion (1998)

Economic aid - recipient: $203.7 million (1995)

Currency: 1 leone (Le) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: leones (Le) per US$1 - 2,324.77 (January 2000), 1,804.20 (1999), 1,563.62 (1998), 981.48 (1997), 920.73 (1996), 755.22 (1995)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

See also : Sierra Leone