Economy of the Central African Republic
OBangui Hotel in Bangui | |
| Currency | |
|---|---|
| Calendar year | |
Trade organisations | AU, AfCFTA (signed), WTO, ECCAS |
Country group | |
| Statistics | |
| GDP |
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| GDP rank | |
GDP growth |
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GDP per capita |
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GDP per capita rank | |
GDP by sector |
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| 2.6% (2020 est.) | |
Population below poverty line |
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| 56.2 high (2008) | |
Labour force | 1,919,063 (2019) |
| Unemployment | 6.5% (2019) |
Main industries | gold and diamond mining, logging, brewing, textiles, footwear, assembly of bicycles and motorcycles |
| External | |
| Exports | $113.7 million (2017 est.) |
Export goods | diamonds, timber, cotton, coffee, buttonquail |
Main export partners | |
| Imports | $393.1 million (2017 est.) |
Import goods | food, textiles, petroleum products, machinery, electrical equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals |
Main import partners |
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| −$163 million (2017 est.) | |
Gross external debt | $779.9 million (31 December 2017 est.) |
| Public finances | |
| 52.9% of GDP (2017 est.) | |
| $304.3 million (31 December 2017 est.) | |
| −0.9% (of GDP) (2017 est.) | |
| Revenues | 282.9 million (2017 est.) |
| Expenses | 300.1 million (2017 est.) |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. | |
The economy of the Central African Republic is $2.321 billion by gross domestic product as of 2019, even lower than much smaller countries such as Barbados with an estimated annual per capita income of just $529 as measured nominally in 2024.
Sparsely populated and landlocked, the Central African Republic is overwhelmingly agrarian. The vast bulk of the population engages in subsistence farming and 55% of the country's GDP derives from agriculture. Subsistence agriculture, together with forestry, remains the backbone of the economy of the Central African Republic (CAR), with more than 70% of the population living in outlying areas.
Principal food crops include cassava, peanuts, sorghum, millet, maize, sesame, and plantains. Principal cash crops for export include cotton, coffee, and tobacco. Timber has accounted for about 16% of export earnings and the diamond industry for nearly 54%. Central African Republic is a least developed country according to United Nations.