Madagascar: Economy#
Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more than one-fourth of GDP and employing roughly 80% of the population. Deforestation and erosion, aggravated by the use of firewood as the primary source of fuel, are serious concerns.After discarding socialist economic policies in the mid-1990s, Madagascar followed a World Bank- and IMF-led policy of privatization and liberalization until the onset of a political crisis, which lasted from 2009 to 2013. The free market strategy had placed the country on a slow and steady growth path from an extremely low starting point. Exports of apparel boomed after gaining duty-free access to the US in 2000; however, Madagascar's failure to comply with the requirements of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) led to the termination of the country's duty-free access in January 2010, a sharp fall in textile production, and a loss of more than 100,000 jobs.
Madagascar regained AGOA access in January 2015 following the democratic election of a new president the previous year. In November 2015, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a Rapid Credit Facility to Madagascar worth about $42.1 million to help the government meet its balance of payments needs. The IMF also approved a staff monitoring program to guide policy implementation and indicated that Madagascar must demonstrate the capability to sustain reforms to qualify for future requests for a credit facility.
Economic Facts#
| GDP (purchasing power parity) | $37.49 billion (2016 est.) $36 billion (2015 est.) $34.91 billion (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars |
|---|---|
| GDP (official exchange rate) | $9.74 billion (2015 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 4.1% (2016 est.) 3.1% (2015 est.) 3.3% (2014 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP) | $1,500 (2016 est.) $1,500 (2015 est.) $1,500 (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars |
| Gross national saving | 13% of GDP (2016 est.) 11.2% of GDP (2015 est.) 15.3% of GDP (2014 est.) |
| GDP - composition, by end use | household consumption: 82.8% government consumption: 12.9% investment in fixed capital: 15.8% investment in inventories: 0% exports of goods and services: 31.3% imports of goods and services: -42.8% (2016 est.) |
| GDP - composition, by sector of origin | agriculture: 24.8% industry: 16.3% services: 58.9% (2016 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, cocoa, rice, cassava (manioc, tapioca), beans, bananas, peanuts; livestock products |
| Industries | meat processing, seafood, soap, beer, leather, sugar, textiles, glassware, cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum, tourism, mining |
| Industrial production growth rate | 3.7% (2016 est.) |
| Labor force | 12.98 million (2016 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | NA% (2015 est.) 3.6% (2014 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 75.3% (2010 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.2% highest 10%: 34.7% (2010 est.) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index | 47.5 (2001) 38.1 (1999) |
| Budget | revenues: $1.171 billion expenditures: $1.616 billion (2016 est.) |
| Taxes and other revenues | 12% of GDP (2016 est.) |
| Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) | -4.6% of GDP (2016 est.) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 9.2% (2016 est.) 7.4% (2015 est.) |
| Central bank discount rate | 5% (31 December 2010) |
| Commercial bank prime lending rate | 62% (31 December 2016 est.) 60% (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Stock of narrow money | $1.527 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $1.375 billion (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Stock of broad money | $2.745 billion (31 December 2015 est.) $2.399 billion (31 December 2014 est.) |
| Stock of domestic credit | $1.914 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $1.645 billion (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares | $NA |
| Current account balance | -$223 million (2016 est.) -$186 million (2015 est.) |
| Exports | $2.266 billion (2016 est.) $2.238 billion (2015 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | coffee, vanilla, shellfish, sugar, cotton cloth, clothing, chromite, petroleum products |
| Exports - partners | France 15.2%, US 12.7%, China 7.1%, South Africa 5.9%, Japan 5.5%, Netherlands 5.4%, Germany 5.1%, Belgium 5%, India 4.4% (2015) |
| Imports | $2.717 billion (2016 est.) $2.683 billion (2015 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | capital goods, petroleum, consumer goods, food |
| Imports - partners | China 24.8%, France 10.3%, Bahrain 5.6%, India 5.5%, Kuwait 4.5%, Mauritius 4.5%, South Africa 4.3% (2015) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $780.4 million (31 December 2016 est.) $832 million (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Debt - external | $4.007 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $3.332 billion (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | $NA |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | $NA |
| Exchange rates | Malagasy ariary (MGA) per US dollar - 3,243.4 (2016 est.) 2,933.5 (2015 est.) 2,933.5 (2014 est.) 2,414.8 (2013 est.) 2,195 (2012 est.) |