The economy in Central African Republic has been growing at a slow pace.  The economy is primarily dependent on agriculture. Diamond and timber are the major exports from the country.

(Source: Heritage.org)

Gross Domestic Product

The GDP at current prices in the year 2010 is estimated at USD 2.11 billion as compared to USD 1.99 billion in 2009.

(Source: afdb.org)

GDP growth rate

The real GDP growth rate in the year 2010 is estimated at 3.3% as compared to 1.7% in 2009.

(Source: IMF)

Gross National Income (GNI)

In 2010, GNI per capita at PPP was USD 758 as compared to USD 712 in 2005.

(Source: UNDP)

Income tax

Income tax on individual income in Central African Republic is taxed at rates varying from 10% to 50%.

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Corporate tax

In Central African Republic, standard corporate tax is 30% and value added tax is 19%.

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Inflation Rate

The inflation rate in the year 2010 is estimated at 1.42% as compared to 3.52% in 2009.

 (Source: afdb.org)

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Inflow

In 2009, FDI inflow was amounted at USD 42 million as compared to USD 117 million in 2008.

(Source: UNCTAD)

Banking sector assets

The table below displays the assets of the Central African Republic

(Source: beac.int)

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

The Consumer Price Index in Central African Republic is on a steady rise. In 2009, CPI was registered at 136.6 as compared to 131.6 in 2008.

(Source: afdb.org) Base, 2000=100

Interest rates on deposits

As of 2009, the banks in Central African Republic offer around 3.3% interest rate on deposits.

(Source: World Bank)

Money supply (Currency in Circulation)

In September 2010, the money supply (M1) is registered at XAF 139,273 million.

(Source: beac.int)

Government Expenditure

In 2010, the government expenditure is estimated at XAF 169.60 billion as compared to XAF 140.13 billion in 2009.

(Source: IMF)

Private Debt

The private debt of the country in 2009 amounted to USD 53 million as compared to USD 38 million in 2008.

(Source: afdb.org)

Public Debt

In 2009, the public debt amounted to USD 960 million as compared to USD 953 million in 2008.

(Source: afdb.org)

Official exchange rate

(Source: afdb.org)

Government finances

 Fiscal balance

The fiscal deficit of Central African Republic in the year 2010 is estimated at XAF 7.21 billion.

(Source: IMF)

 Total Revenue

The country’s total revenue in 2010 is estimated at XAF 162.39 billion as compared to XAF 150.27 billion in 2009.

(Source: IMF)

Tax revenue

 The tax revenue for the year 2008 amounted to XAF 72.9 billion as compared to XAF 64.3 billion in 2007.

(Source: beac.int)

Current Account Balance

The current account deficit in the year 2010 is estimated at 7.55% as compared to 7.81% in 2009.

(Source: IMF)

Balance of Payments

e=estimated

(Source: beac.int)

Labour force

The labour force in the year 2009 included 2.07 million individuals as compared to 2.02 million in 2008.

(Source: World Bank)

The labour force participation rate in Central African Republic was 79% for the year 2009. For females, the participation rate was 72% while for males it was 87%.

(Source: World Bank, World Bank, World Bank)

Unemployment rate

There is no official data available on the country's unemployment. However, the unemployment rate in 2001 was estimated at 8%.

(Source: indexmundi)

Minimum wage

In Central African Republic, the minimum wage in public sector varies by sector and occupation. The monthly minimum wages are XFA 8,500 for agricultural workers and XFA 26,000 for office workers.

The minimum wage for 19-year old worker or an apprentice was USD 39.8 per month.

(Source: minimum-wage.org, doingbusiness.org)

Level of Unionisation

The major labour unions in country include:

• Confédération Syndicale des Travailleurs de Centrafrique (CSTC)
  

• Union Syndicale des Travailleurs de Centrafrique (USTC) 

(Source: ICFTU)

Central African Republic government is based on a Presidential Republic system. The executive powers are vested with the President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. The president is both the head of the state and government and elected for a term of six years.

The country’s parliament is unicameral and is comprised of 105 members. The members of parliament are directly elected for a five year term. The National assembly is the parliament of the country and is Unicameral. It has 150 statutory members in which 105 are directly elected for term of five years.

Major political parties in Central African Republic include:

• Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MLPC)

• National Convergence "Kwa Na Kwa"

(Source: IPU, fco.gov.uk)

Regulatory Environment

The country is ranked 152^nd in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, with an economic freedom score of 49.3. In the Sub-Saharan Africa region, Central African Republic ranks 34^th out of 46 countries. The overall score is lower than the regional averages.

(Source:Heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Central African Republic is ranked 154^th in the 2010 index, indicating that corruption levels in the public departments is fairly high.

Central African Republic improved on the CPI rankings since 2009, when it was ranked 158^th with a score of 2.0 indicating the perceived levels of corruption have decreased in the country.

(Source: transparency.org)

Freedom of Information

World Press Freedom Index 2010 Central African Republic is ranked 69^th with a score of 42.00 which indicates that media restrictions in the country is moderate.  (Source: rsf.org)

Newspapers    

• Le Citoyen

• Centrafrique-Presse

• Le Confident

• Le Démocrat

• L'Hirondelle

• L'Evenementiel

(Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The judiciary in Central African Republic consists of

• Supreme Court of Justice

• Constitutional Court

The Supreme Court is the highest court of justice. The judges of Supreme Court of justice and constitutional courts are elected by the president.

(Source:centrafricaine)

The total population of Central African Republic in 2009 was 4.42 million, increasing at a rate of about 1.91% over the previous year.

(Source: afdb.org)

(Source: worldbank.org)

The gender ratio in the country is imbalanced i.e. there are about 96.6 males for every 100 females.

(Source: UN)

In 2009, individuals below 14 years of age accounted for 40.6% of the total population. In 2009, 6.4% women and 5.3% men (% of total population) were aged above 60 years of age.

(Source: UN)

The mortality rate of infants (per 1,000 live births) was registered at 105.5 in between 2005 to 2010. The birth rate (per 1,000 people) was 34.9 in 2009. The mortality rate (per thousand people) was recorded at 16.7 in 2009.

The average life expectancy at birth in Central African Republic for males and females is 45.4 years and 48.4 years respectively.

(Source: UN, afdb.org)

International migrant stock till mid 2010 was recorded at 80,500 people. This was approximately 1.8% of the entire population.

(Source: UN)

The urban population in the country grew at an annual rate of 2.3% between 2005 and 2010. For the same period, the rural population grew at a slower rate, of only 1.5% per year.

(Source: UN)

Ethnic groups in Central African Republic include:

• Baya
• Banda
• Sara
• Mandja
• Mboum
• M'baka
• Yakoma

(Source: State.gov)

The country ranks 159^th out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index 2009 conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). 

(Source: UNDP)

Literacy rate

The adult literacy rate in the period 2005 to 2008 is estimated at 55%.

(Source: UNICEF)

Education resources

The education system is poor due to lack of government negligence. The compulsory education in country is at the age of 6 to 14 years. The government expenditure on education was registered at 1.45% of GDP.

There are 66% for boys and 47% for girls in primary schools. In the country, the selection rate to grade 5 is 59% and secondary school transition ratio is 47%. There are 3,036 students in tertiary institutions in 2007.

(Source: estandardsforum)

Health care

The country has limited healthcare resources. The expenditure on public heath was 1.5% of GDP.

In Central African Republic, there are 331 physicians, 55 environment and public health workers, 48 laboratory health workers, 13 dentists and 17 pharmacists. The country has about 120 hospital beds per 100,000 people and 40 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people.

There were about 425 cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people and 100 per 100,000 people death rate for tuberculosis. In country, mortality rate for cancer is 154 per 100,000 people and for cardiovascular diseases are 445 per 100,000 people.

The mass public transport in the country is primarily by roads (buses and cabs).

Roadways

In Central African Republic, there are 24,307 km of roads; of which 650 km are paved.

(Source: estandardsforum)

Ports

The major port in Central African Republic is Port of Bangui. (Source: world port source)

Airports

Few of the major airports are:

(Source: Air charter world)

Telecommunications networks

(Source: internetworldstats.com)

The number of fixed telephone lines in Central African Republic has increased from 10,000 in 2004 to 12,000 in 2009, registering a CAGR of 3.7%. The usage of fixed telephone line has increased from 0.25 per 100 inhabitants in 2004 to 0.27 per 100 inhabitants in 2009.

(Source: ITU)

The number of mobile cellular subscriptions rose from 60,000 in 2004 to 600,000 in 2009, registering a CAGR of 58.5%. The ratio of mobile cellular subscriptions to fixed telephone lines was 50:1, indicating that the amount of mobile cellular usage in the country is higher as compared to the fixed telephone line usage.

(Source: ITU)