Burkina Faso

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Country summary

Capital

Ouagadougou

Borders

Benin 306 km, Cote d'Ivoire 584 km, Ghana 549 km, Mali 1,000 km, Niger 628 km, Togo 126 km

Government type

parliamentary republic

Population

15,746,232[1]

Population growth

3.103% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

52.95 years[1]

Unemployment

77% (2004)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

90[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

79[3]

Doing Business ranking

147[4]


Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) achieved independence from France in 1960. Repeated military coups during the 1970s and 1980s were followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s. Current President Blaise COMPAORE came to power in a 1987 military coup and has won every election since then. Burkina Faso's high population density and limited natural resources result in poor economic prospects for the majority of its citizens. Recent unrest in Cote d'Ivoire and northern Ghana has hindered the ability of several hundred thousand seasonal Burkinabe farm workers to find employment in neighboring countries.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: West African CFA franc (ISO code: XOF)
  • Central bank discount rate: 4.75% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: NA%[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $1.068 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $751.3 million (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[6] 3 015 2 611 2 813 3 290 4 270 5 109 5 427 5 771 6 767 7 948
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[7]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[8] 12.763 12.560 12.967 13.570 13.593
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[9] 10.337 11.159 12.833 13.884 12.789
Debt to revenue (years)

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Burkina Faso", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Burkina Faso", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  3. Transparency International. "Burkina Faso", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  4. Doing Business. "Burkina Faso", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 355. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  6. World Bank. "Burkina Faso: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  7. World Bank. "Burkina Faso: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  8. World Bank. "Burkina Faso: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  9. World Bank. "Burkina Faso: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.

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