Gabon

Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most sub-Saharan African nations, but because of high income inequality, a large proportion of the population remains poor. Gabon depended on timber and manganese until oil was discovered offshore in the early 1970s. The oil sector now accounts for more than 50% of GDP although the industry is in decline as fields pass their peak production. Gabon continues to face fluctuating prices for its oil, timber, and manganese exports and the global recession led to a GDP contraction of 1.4% in 2009. Despite the abundance of natural wealth, poor fiscal management hobbles the economy. In 1997, an IMF mission to Gabon criticized the government for overspending on off-budget items, overborrowing from the central bank, and slipping on its schedule for privatization and administrative reform. The rebound of oil prices from 1999 to 2008 helped growth, but drops in production have hampered Gabon from fully realizing potential gains. Gabon signed a 14-month Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF in May 2007, and later that year issued a $1 billion sovereign bond to buy back a sizable portion of its Paris Club debt.

$22.54 billion (2010 est.)

$21.39 billion (2009 est.)

$21.69 billion (2008 est.)

$12.56 billion (2010 est.)

5.4% (2010 est.)

-1.4% (2009 est.)

2.3% (2008 est.)

$14,600 (2010 est.)

$14,100 (2009 est.)

$14,600 (2008 est.)

712,000 (2010 est.)

21% (2006 est.); NA%

NA%

28.8% of GDP (2010 est.)

25.8% of GDP (2010 est.)

27.6% of GDP (2009 est.)

-1.3% (2010 est.)

1.9% (2009 est.)

4.25% (31 December 2009)

4.75% (31 December 2008)

NA% (31 December 2009 est.)

NA% (31 December 2008 est.)

$1.835 billion (31 December 2010 est)

$1.623 billion (31 December 2009 est)

$2.764 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.468 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$1.074 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$826.8 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$NA

cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish

petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, gold; chemicals, ship repair, food and beverages, textiles, lumbering and plywood, cement

4.8% (2010 est.)

1.774 billion kWh (2007 est.)

1.446 billion kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

241,700 bbl/day (2009 est.)

14,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

227,300 bbl/day (2007 est.)

4,185 bbl/day (2007 est.)

2 billion bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

90 million cu m (2008 est.)

90 million cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

28.32 billion cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

$591 million (2010 est.)

$887 million (2009 est.)

$6.803 billion (2010 est.)

$6.04 billion (2009 est.)

crude oil 70%, timber, manganese, uranium

Russia 30.62%, US 16.56%, China 15.87%, France 4.28% (2009)

$2.433 billion (2010 est.)

$2.298 billion (2009 est.)

machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, construction materials

France 32.21%, US 7.92%, China 7.02%, Belgium 4.99%, Italy 4.81%, Cameroon 4.56%, Netherlands 4.35% (2009)

$2.602 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.993 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$2.374 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.352 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Cooperation Financiere en Afrique Centrale francs per US dollar - 507.71 (2010), 472.19 (2009), 447.81 (2008), 481.83 (2007), 522.89 (2006)