2, Abidjan 01); telephone p225o 32-09-79

Flag: three equal vertical bands of orange (hoist side), white, and green;
similar to the flag of Ireland which is longer and has the colors
reversed--green (hoist side), white, and orange; also similar to the flag of
Italy which is green (hoist side), white, and red; design was based on the flag
of France

- Economy
Overview: The Ivory Coast is among the world's largest producers and
exporters of coffee, cocoa beans, and palm-kernel oil. Consequently, the economy
is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices for coffee and cocoa
and to weather conditions. Despite attempts by the government to diversify, the
economy is still largely dependent on agriculture and related industries. The
agricultural sector accounts for over one-third of GDP and about 80% of export
earnings and employs about 85% of the labor force. A collapse of world cocoa and
coffee prices in 1986 threw the economy into a recession, from which the country
had not recovered by 1989.

GDP: $10.0 billion, per capita $900; real growth rate - 6.4% (1988)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.5% (1988)

Unemployment rate: 14% (1985)

Budget: revenues $1.6 billion (1986); expenditures $2.3 billion, including
capital expenditures of $504 million (1988 est.)

Exports: $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--cocoa 30%,
coffee 20%, tropical woods 11%, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, cotton;
partners--France, FRG, Netherlands, US, Belgium, Spain (1985)

Imports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--manufactured
goods and semifinished products 50%, consumer goods 40%, raw materials and
fuels 10%; partners--France, other EC, Nigeria, US, Japan (1985)

External debt: $14.7 billion (1989 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 0% (1987)

Electricity: 1,081,000 kW capacity; 2,440 million kWh produced,
210 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: foodstuffs, wood processing, oil refinery, automobile
assembly, textiles, fertilizer, beverage

Agriculture: most important sector, contributing one-third to GDP
and 80% to exports; cash crops include coffee, cocoa beans, timber,
bananas, palm kernels, rubber; food crops--corn, rice, manioc, sweet
potatoes; not selfsufficient in bread grain and dairy products

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis on a small scale for the
international drug trade

Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $344 million; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA an