Economy — Burkina Faso
GDP, employment, industries, public finance, and currency.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Economy at a glance
GDP, employment, industries, public finance, and currency. Key figure for Burkina Faso: Burkina Faso is a poor, landlocked country that depends on adequate rainfall. Irregular patterns of rainfall, poor soil, and the lack of adequate communications and other infrastructure contribute to the economy’s vulnerability to external shocks. About 80% of the population is engaged in subsistence farming a…
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Economic overview
- Economic Overview
Burkina Faso is a poor, landlocked country that depends on adequate rainfall.
Irregular patterns of rainfall, poor soil, and the lack of adequate communications and other infrastructure contribute to the economy’s vulnerability to external shocks.
About 80% of the population is engaged in subsistence farming and cotton is the main cash crop.
The country has few natural resources and a weak industrial base.
Cotton and gold are Burkina Faso’s key exports - gold has accounted for about three-quarters of the country’s total export revenues.
Burkina Faso’s economic growth and revenue depends largely on production levels and global prices for the two commodities.
The country has seen an upswing in gold exploration, production, and exports.
In 2016, the government adopted a new development strategy, set forth in the 2016-2020 National Plan for Economic and Social Development, that aims to reduce poverty, build human capital, and satisfy basic needs.
A new three-year IMF program (2018-2020), approved in 2018, will allow the government to reduce the budget deficit and preserve critical spending on social services and priority public investments.
While the end of the political crisis has allowed Burkina Faso’s economy to resume positive growth, the country’s fragile security situation could put these gains at risk.
Political insecurity in neighboring Mali, unreliable energy supplies, and poor transportation links pose long-term challenges.
- Industries
Cotton lint, beverages, agricultural processing, soap, cigarettes, textiles, gold
- GDP - per capita (PPP)
$1,800.00 (USD)
- GDP - real growth rate
5.2%
GDP & growth
- GDP - Gross Domestic Product (PPP)
$45,160,000,000 (USD)
- GDP Per Capita
$1,800.00 (USD)
- GDP - real growth rate
5.2%
- GDP - official exchange rate
$12,010,000,000 (USD)
- GDP - composition, by end use
- Household Consumption: 45.1%
- Government Consumption: 22%
- Investment in Fixed Capital: 28.7%
- Investment in Inventories: 0.7%
- Exports of Goods and Services: 34.5%
- Imports of Goods and Services: -31%
- GDP by Sector- agriculture
32.5%
- GDP by Sector- Industry
21.8%
- GDP by Sector- services
45.7%
- Industrial Growth Rate
4.2%
Prices & money
- Inflation Rate
1.4%
- Exchange Rate per US Dollar
605.7
- Currency Name and Code
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF)
- Fiscal Year
Calendar Year
Employment & labor
- Labor Force
7,692,000
- Unemployment Rate
77%
- Major Industries
Cotton lint, beverages, agricultural processing, soap, cigarettes, textiles, gold
- Agriculture Products
Cotton, peanuts, shea nuts, sesame, sorghum, millet, corn, rice; livestock
- Population Below Poverty Line
46.7%
- Child Labor - # of children ages 5-14
1,521,006
- Child Labor - % of children ages 5-14
38%
Public finance
- Annual Budget
$2,442,000,000 (USD)
- Budget Surplus or Deficit - percent of GDP
-2.8%
- Taxes and other revenues - percent of GDP
20.3%