US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Peter Russell CHAVEAS
embassy: Corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets, Freetown
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [232] (22) 226481 through 226485
FAX: [232] (22) 225471

Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light
blue

Economy Sierra Leone

Economy - overview:
Sierra Leone is an extremely poor African nation with tremendous
inequality in income distribution. It does have substantial mineral,
agricultural, and fishery resources. However, the economic and
social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social
disorders continue to hamper economic development, following a
11-year civil war. About two-thirds of the working-age population
engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of
the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the
domestic market. Plans continue to reopen bauxite and rutile mines
shut down during the conflict. The major source of hard currency
consists of the mining of diamonds. The fate of the economy depends
upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of
substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe
trade imbalance and to supplement government revenues.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $3.057 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.5% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $500 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 49%
industry: 31%
services: 21% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line:
68% (1989 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 43.6% (1989)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
62.9 (1989)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1% (2002 est.)

Labor force:
1.369 million (1981 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA

Unemployment rate:
NA

Budget:
revenues: $96 million
expenditures: $351 million, including capital expenditures of NA
(2000 est.)

Agriculture - products:
rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry,
cattle, sheep, pigs; fish

Industries:
mining (diamonds); small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles,
cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining

Industrial production growth rate:
NA

Electricity - production: