ens 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 10-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. There
are plans 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.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $2.7 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 3% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $500 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 43% industry: 27% services:
30% (2000)

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): 15% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 1.369 million (1981 est.) note: only about 65,000 wage
earners (1985)

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.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 245 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% other: 0%
(2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 227.85 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil,
peanuts; poultry, cattle, she