g description: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow,
and red with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from
the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the
three bands; Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and
the colors of her flag were so often adopted by other African
countries upon independence that they became known as the pan-African
colors

Economy

Economy - overview: Ethiopia continues to face difficult economic
problems as one of the poorest and least developed countries in the
world. Its economy is based on agriculture, which accounts for more
than half of GDP, 90% of exports, and 80% of total employment; coffee
generates 60% of export earnings. The agricultural sector suffers from
frequent periods of drought, poor cultivation practices, and
deterioration of internal security conditions. The manufacturing
sector is heavily dependent on inputs from the agricultural sector.
Over 90% of large-scale industry, but less than 10% of agriculture, is
state-run. The government is considering selling off a portion of
state-owned plants and is implementing reform measures that are
gradually liberalizing the economy. A major medium-term problem is the
improvement of roads, water supply, and other parts of an
infrastructure badly neglected during years of civil strife.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $24.8 billion (1995 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 7.7% (1995 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $430 (1995 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 57%
industry: 10%
services: 33% (1994 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 10% (1995 est.)

Labor force:
total: 18 million
by occupation: agriculture and animal husbandry 80%, government and
services 12%, industry and construction 8% (1985)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues : $1 billion
expenditures: $1.48 billion, including capital expenditures of $415
million (FY96/97)

Industries: food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metals
processing, cement

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - capacity: 630,000 kW (1991)

Electricity - production: 1.27 billion kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 23 kWh (1994 est.)

Agriculture - products: cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, sugarcane,
potatoes, other vegetables; hides, cattle, sheep, goats

Exports:
total value : $423 million (f.o.b., 1995 est.)
commodities: coffee, l