Economy of Eritrea

The Eritrean economy was severely damaged by the border war with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000 and by a multi-year drought. The gross domestic product of Eritrea in 2006 was at 1.316 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 167 U.S. dollars per capita. Where payments of Eritrean migrants to their home country, 32% of gross domestic product ausmachen.Somit Eritrea belongs to one of the poorest countries in the world. Inflation was in the same year at 12 %. The external debt of Eritrea in 2006 was 717.22 million U.S. dollars. Since the government does not publish economic data, the data is often appreciated.

Agriculture

In agriculture, about 80 % of the population worked. At the same time, agriculture contributes 23% to the gross domestic product. Crop yields are highly dependent on climate. Even in good harvest years, Eritrea could not feed more than 60 % of the population. Are grown mainly coffee, millet, fruit and cotton. On the coasts of prawns, lobsters and crabs are caught. The catch in 2006 was 12,000 tons.

Mineral resources

The country has significant natural resources. These include gold, copper, silver and zinc. The reduction of these minerals is done since the end of 2010 by an Eritrean- Canadian consortium. Further facilities in the country barite, feldspar and kaolin. The Baritvorkommen are estimated at 1.4 million tons, the Feldspatvorkommen to 200,000 tons and the kaolin deposits to 2.5 million tons. Some other natural resources are potash, salt, gypsum, granite, marble and asbestos.

Industry

Industry contributes 22 % to the gross domestic product. Of these, only the construction industry controls 10% of the gross domestic product. The construction industry is almost entirely state-owned, after the private construction industry was banned in 2006. Also in state ownership of all Eritrean banks, although 60 % of the NICE shares were conditionally sold by the intended privatization of Eritrean investors.

Tourism

Tourism is insignificant in Eritrea, as this industry is far less developed. In the year 2006 78.000 visitors were counted, and 79 % were Auslandseritreer. The income from tourism amounted to 60 million U.S. dollars in the same year.

Foreign trade

Export products are food, livestock, textiles and industrial goods. Mainly machinery, vehicles, foodstuffs, manufactured goods, chemicals and chemical products are imported. 2006 goods were imported, worth 556.67 million U.S. dollars worth of goods exported 68.43 million U.S. dollars, which led to a substantial trade deficit.