Angola Economy, GDP, Budget, Industry and Agriculture

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Angola Economy


View the information below regarding the economy of Angola. The summary and statistics contains gdp, industry, agriculture and more for Angola. If you need other information please visit the Angola Country Page.

  • Angola Government
  • Angola People
  • Angola Geography
  • Angola History

    Economy Statistics
    GDP (2001 est. using purchasing power parity): $13.3 billion.
    GDP (2001 est. using Atlas method): $6.7 billion.
    Annual real GDP growth rate (2001 est.): 3.2%.
    Per capita GDP (2001 est. using purchasing power parity): $1,550.
    Per capita GDP (2001 est. using Atlas method): $500.
    Avg. inflation rate (2000 est.): 116%.
    Natural resources: Petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, bauxite, uranium, gold, granite, copper, feldspar.
    Agriculture: Products--Bananas, sugarcane, coffee, sisal, corn, cotton, manioc, tobacco, vegetables, plantains; livestock; forest products; fisheries products.
    Industry: Types--petroleum drilling and refining, mining, cement, basic metal products, fish processing; food processing, brewing, tobacco products, sugar refining, textiles.
    Trade: Exports (2001 est.)--$6.7 billion: crude oil (89%), diamonds, refined petroleum products, coffee, gas, sisal, fish and fisheries products, timber, cotton. Major markets (2001 est.)--U.S. 49%, EU, China, South Korea. Imports (2001 est.)--$3.3 billion, machinery, electrical equipment, vehicles and spare parts, medicines, food, textiles, military goods. Major sources--EU (39%), South Korea, U.S., South Africa, Brazil.

    source: http://www.state.gov
    ECONOMY:
    Angola has a fast-growing economy largely due to a major oil boom, but it also ranks in the bottom 10 of almost every socioeconomic indicator. Aside from the oil sector and diamonds, it is in economic disarray because of 27 years of nearly continuous warfare, corruption, and economic mismanagement. Despite abundant natural resources, output per capita remains among the world's lowest. Subsistence agriculture and dependence on humanitarian food assistance sustain the large majority of the population.

    By contrast, the rapidly expanding petroleum industry now producing up to 900,000 barrels per day (bpd), behind only Nigeria in Africa, accounts for 51.7% of GNP, 89% of exports, and 90% of government revenues. Oil production remains largely offshore and has few linkages with other sectors of the economy. Block Zero, located in the enclave of Cabinda, currently provides the majority of Angola's crude oil production.

    ChevronTexaco, through its subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, is the operator with a 39.2% share. SONANGOL (the Angolan state oil company), TotalFinaElf, and ENI-Agip are partners in the concession. ChevronTexaco also operates Angola's first producing deepwater section, Block 14, which started pumping in January 2000. Production from these Cabinda fields will be eclipsed by deepwater production further south in the Kwanza Basin scheduled to come on-line by 2007. TotalFinaElf brought the first of these deepwater blocks on-line with production from its Block 17 concession beginning in February 2002. Additional significant discoveries have been made in deepwater Blocks 15, 18, and 24, in which ExxonMobil, BP, Statoil, Norsk Hydro, and Agip have major interests. Exploration is ongoing in recently awarded ultra deep water concessions and in deep water and shallow concessions in the Namibe Basin. BP made the first significant ultra-deep water find in its Block 31 concession in 2002. TotalFinaElf operates Angola's one refinery (in Luanda) as a joint venture with SONANGOL; plans for a second refinery in Lobito are moving forward. ChevronTexaco and Sonangol are exploring the feasibility of a liquefied natural gas plant at Soyo. The United States purchases more than half of Angola's petroleum production, by far the largest importer. Exports to Asian countries, particularly China, have grown rapidly in recent years.

    Diamonds make up most of Angola's remaining exports. Despite increased corporate ownership of diamond fields, much production is currently in the hands of smallscale prospectors, often operating illegally. The government is making an increased effort to register and license these prospectors. Legal sales of rough diamonds may occur only through the government's diamond-buying parastatal, although many producers continue to try and bypass the system to obtain higher prices. The government has established an export certification scheme consistent with the "Kimberley Process" to identify legitimate production and sales. Other mineral resources, including, gold remain largely undeveloped.

    In the last decade of the colonial period, Angola was a major African food exporter. Because of severe wartime conditions, including extensive laying of landmines throughout the countryside, agricultural activities have been brought to a near standstill, and the country is now forced to import most of its food. Some efforts at agricultural recovery have gone forward, notably in fisheries, but most of the country's vast potential remains untapped. Coffee production, though a fraction of its pre-1975 level, is sufficient for domestic needs and some exports.

    An economic reform effort was launched in 1998 but has been only marginally successful in addressing persistent fiscal mismanagement and corruption. In April 2000, Angola started an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Staff-Monitored Program (SMP). The program formally lapsed in June 2001 over IMF concerns about lack of adequate Angolan progress in key areas. However, the Government of Angola did succeed in unifying exchange rates and has raised fuel, electricity, and water rates. Efforts to initiate a new IMF program are ongoing but are contingent on progress in budget transparency and accountability. The Commercial Code, telecommunications law, land tenure law, and Foreign Investment Code are outdated. Revisions are in progress. A privatization effort, prepared with World Bank assistance, has begun with the BCI bank.

    Angola is the third-largest trading partner of the United States in Sub-Saharan Africa, largely because of its petroleum exports. About 7% of U.S. non-OPEC oil imports are from Angola, a share which should continue to increase. By the same token, U.S. companies account for more than half the investment in Angola, with Chevron-Texaco leading the way. The U.S. exports to Angola industrial goods and services--such as oilfield equipment, mining equipment, chemicals, aircraft, and food.

    source: http://www.state.gov

  • Angola Government
  • Angola People
  • Angola Geography
  • Angola History