Ethiopia's economy is based on agriculture, which
accounts for half of GDP, 90% of exports, and 80% of total employment.
The agricultural sector suffers from frequent periods of drought and
poor cultivation practices, and as many as 4.6 million people need
food assistance annually. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy,
and Ethiopia earned $267 million in 1999 by exporting 105,000 metric
tons. According to current estimates, coffee contributes 10% of
Ethiopia's GDP. More than 15 million people (25% of the population)
derive their livelihood from the coffee sector. Other exports include
live animals, hides, gold, and qat. In December 1999, Ethiopia signed
a $1.4 billion joint venture deal to develop a huge natural gas field
in the Somali Regional State. The war with Eritrea has forced the
government to spend scarce resources on the military and forced the
government to scale back ambitious development plans. Foreign
investment has declined significantly. Government taxes imposed in
late 1999 to raise money for the war will depress an already weak
economy. The war has forced the government to improve roads and other
parts of the previously neglected infrastructure, but only certain
regions of the nation have benefited.

purchasing power parity - $33.3 billion (1999 est.)

0% (1999 est.)

purchasing power parity - $560 (1999 est.)

agriculture: 46%
industry: 12%
services: 42% (1998 est.)

NA%

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

4% (1999 est.)

NA

agriculture and animal husbandry 80%,
government and services 12%, industry and construction 8% (1985)

NA%

revenues: $1 billion
expenditures: $1.48 billion, including capital expenditures of $415
million (FY96/97)

food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metals
processing, cement

NA%

1.36 billion kWh (1998)

fossil fuel: 7.35%
hydro: 89.34%
nuclear: 0%
other: 3.31% (1998)

1.265 billion kWh (1998)

0 kWh (1998)

0 kWh (1998)

cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, sugarcane,
potatoes; hides, cattle, sheep, goats

$420 million (f.o.b., 1998)

coffee, gold, leather products, oilseeds

Germany 22%, Japan 12%, Italy 9%, UK 5% (1997
est.)

$1.25 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum
products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles

Italy 10%, US 9%, Japan 8%, Jordan 5% (1997 est.)

$10 billion (1997)

$367 million (FY95/96)

1 birr (Br) = 100 cents

birr (Br) per US$1 (end of period) - 8.2 (January
2000), 7.5030 (1998), 6.8640 (1997), 6.4260 (1996), 6.3200 (1995)
note: since May 1993, the birr market rate has been determined in an
interbank market supported by weekly wholesale auction; prior to that
date, the official rate was pegged to US$1 = 5.000 birr

8 July - 7 July