Sao Tome and Principe: Economy#
This small, poor island economy has become increasingly dependent on cocoa since independence in 1975. Cocoa production has substantially declined in recent years because of drought and mismanagement. Sao Tome and Principe has to import fuels, most manufactured goods, consumer goods, and food, making it vulnerable to fluctuations in global commodity prices. Maintaining control of inflation, fiscal discipline, and increasing flows of foreign direct investment into the oil sector are major economic problems facing the country. The government also has attempted to reduce price controls and subsidies.Over the years, Sao Tome and Principe has had difficulty servicing its external debt and has relied heavily on concessional aid and debt rescheduling. It benefited from $200 million in debt relief in December 2000 under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries program, which helped bring down the country's $300 million debt burden. In August 2005, the government signed on to a new 3-year IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program worth $4.3 million. In April 2011, the country completed a Threshold Country Program with The Millennium Challenge Corporation to help increase tax revenues, reform customs, and improve the business environment.
Considerable potential exists for development of a tourist industry, and the government has taken steps to expand facilities in recent years. Potential also exists for the development of petroleum resources in Sao Tome and Principe's territorial waters in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, which are being jointly developed in a 60-40 split with Nigeria, but any actual production is at least several years off.
Economic Facts#
| GDP (purchasing power parity) | $694 million (2016 est.) $667.3 million (2015 est.) $641.6 million (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars |
|---|---|
| GDP (official exchange rate) | $351 million (2015 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2016 est.) 4% (2015 est.) 4.5% (2014 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP) | $3,300 (2016 est.) $3,300 (2015 est.) $3,200 (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars |
| Gross national saving | 19.5% of GDP (2016 est.) 16% of GDP (2015 est.) 3.7% of GDP (2014 est.) |
| GDP - composition, by end use | household consumption: 85.2% government consumption: 14.9% investment in fixed capital: 48.5% investment in inventories: 0.5% exports of goods and services: 9.6% imports of goods and services: -58.7% (2016 est.) |
| GDP - composition, by sector of origin | agriculture: 22.4% industry: 10.3% services: 67.4% (2016 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | cocoa, coconuts, palm kernels, copra, cinnamon, pepper, coffee, bananas, papayas, beans; poultry; fish |
| Industries | light construction, textiles, soap, beer, fish processing, timber |
| Industrial production growth rate | 4.5% (2016 est.) |
| Labor force | 70,620 (2016 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | note: population mainly engaged in subsistence agriculture and fishing; shortages of skilled workers |
| Unemployment rate | 13.5% (2014 est.) 13.7% (2013 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 66.2% (2009 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA% |
| Budget | revenues: $108.6 million expenditures: $127 million (2016 est.) |
| Taxes and other revenues | 30.9% of GDP (2016 est.) |
| Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) | -5.3% of GDP (2016 est.) |
| Public debt | 89.5% of GDP (2016 est.) 81.8% of GDP (2015 est.) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.1% (2016 est.) 5.3% (2015 est.) |
| Central bank discount rate | 16% (31 December 2009) 28% (31 December 2008) |
| Commercial bank prime lending rate | 15% (31 December 2016 est.) 15% (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Stock of narrow money | $71.57 million (31 December 2016 est.) $63.82 million (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Stock of broad money | $139.4 million (31 December 2016 est.) $126.6 million (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Stock of domestic credit | $73.47 million (31 December 2016 est.) $72.7 million (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares | $NA |
| Current account balance | -$44 million (2016 est.) -$55 million (2015 est.) |
| Exports | $11 million (2016 est.) $11.3 million (2015 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | cocoa 80%, copra, coffee, palm oil (2010 est.) |
| Exports - partners | Netherlands 29.2%, Belgium 22.4%, Spain 15.5%, US 6.6%, Nigeria 5.1% (2015) |
| Imports | $116.8 million (2016 est.) $118.9 million (2015 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | machinery and electrical equipment, food products, petroleum products |
| Imports - partners | Portugal 65.2%, China 8.1%, Gabon 7.3% (2015) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $68.3 million (31 December 2016 est.) $72.86 million (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Debt - external | $236.5 million (31 December 2016 est.) $219 million (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Exchange rates | dobras (STD) per US dollar - 22,624 (2016 est.) 22,091 (2015 est.) 22,091 (2014 est.) 18,466 (2013 est.) 19,068 (2012 est.) |