The economy is based on service activities
connected with the country's strategic location and status as a free
trade zone in northeast Africa. Two-thirds of the inhabitants live in
the capital city, the remainder being mostly nomadic herders. Scanty
rainfall limits crop production to fruits and vegetables, and most
food must be imported. Djibouti provides services as both a transit
port for the region and an international transshipment and refueling
center. It has few natural resources and little industry. The nation
is, therefore, heavily dependent on foreign assistance to help support
its balance of payments and to finance development projects. An
unemployment rate of 40% to 50% continues to be a major problem.
Inflation is not a concern, however, because of the fixed tie of the
franc to the US dollar. Per capita consumption dropped an estimated
35% over the last seven years because of recession, civil war, and a
high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). Also,
renewed fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea has disturbed normal
external channels of commerce. Faced with a multitude of economic
difficulties, the government has fallen in arrears on long-term
external debt and has been struggling to meet the stipulations of
foreign aid donors.

purchasing power parity - $550 million (1999 est.)

2% (1999 est.)

purchasing power parity - $1,200 (1999 est.)

agriculture: 3%
industry: 20%
services: 77% (1996 est.)

NA%

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

0% (1999 est.)

282,000

agriculture 75%, industry 11%, services
14% (1991 est.)

40%-50% (1996 est.)

revenues: $156 million
expenditures: $175 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1997 est.)

limited to a few small-scale enterprises, such as dairy
products and mineral-water bottling

3% (1996 est.)

177 million kWh (1998)

fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

165 million kWh (1998)

0 kWh (1998)

0 kWh (1998)

fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels

$260 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit)

Somalia 53%, Yemen 23%, Ethiopia 5%, (1998)

$440 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

foods, beverages, transport equipment,
chemicals, petroleum products

France 13%, Ethiopia 12%, Italy 9%, Saudi Arabia
6%, UK 6% (1998)

$350 million (1999 est.)

$106.3 million (1995)

1 Djiboutian franc (DF) = 100 centimes

Djiboutian francs (DF) per US$1 - 177.721 (fixed rate
since 1973)

calendar year