orest countries, Comoros
is made up of several islands that have poor transportation links, a
young and rapidly increasing population, and few natural resources.
The low educational level of the labor force contributes to a
subsistence level of economic activity, high unemployment, and a
heavy dependence on foreign grants and technical assistance.
Agriculture, including fishing, hunting, and forestry, is the
leading sector of the economy. It contributes 40% to GDP, employs
80% of the labor force, and provides most of the exports. The
country is not self-sufficient in food production; rice, the main
staple, accounts for 90% of imports. The government is struggling to
upgrade education and technical training, to privatize commercial
and industrial enterprises, to improve health services, to diversify
exports, and to reduce the high population growth rate. Continued
foreign support is essential if the goal of 4% annual GDP growth is
to be reached in the late 1990s.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $370 million (1994 est.)

GDP real growth rate: 0.9% (1994 est.)

GDP per capita: $700 (1994 est.)

GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 15% (1993 est.)

Labor force: 140,000 (1982)
by occupation: agriculture 80%, government 3%

Unemployment rate: 15.8% (1989)

Budget:
revenues: $83 million
expenditures: $92 million, including capital expenditures of $32
million (1992)

Industries: tourism, perfume distillation, textiles, furniture,
jewelry, construction materials, soft drinks

Industrial production growth rate: -6.5% (1989 est.)

Electricity:
capacity: 16,000 kW
production: 17 million kWh
consumption per capita: 27 kWh (1993)

Agriculture: vanilla, cloves, perfume essences, copra, coconuts,
bananas, cassava (tapioca)

Exports: $13.7 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: vanilla, ylang-ylang, cloves, perfume oil, copra
partners: US 44%, France 40%, Germany 6%, Africa 5% (1992)

Imports: $40.9 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: rice and other foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement,
consumer goods
partners: France 34%, South Africa 14%, Kenya 8%, Japan 4% (1992)

External debt: $160 million (1992 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency: 1 Comoran franc (CF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Comoran francs (CF) per US$1 - 375.42 (January
1996), 374