Home > Country profiles > Economic Outline

Congo: Economic Outline

Economic Indicators

Congo's GDP should increase to around 6% in 2012 thanks to the growing production of hydrocarbon, before being reduced to 3% in 2013 due to the expected drop of its production. One of the major challenges of Congo is to develop an economic non-oil sector anticipating a decline in its reserves.

The IMF is satisfied with the program FRPC 2008-2011, whose objectives were to fight poverty, to improve foreign competitiveness and accelerate the increase in production by strengthening the diversification of its economy. Despite the global crisis, the IMF has emphasized that Congo has done a real effort in improving its situation. They will now concentrate on improving their budgetary balance. Thanks to the debt relief obtained within the framework of the "Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC)", as well as an effort for a transparency in fiscal procedures and the reinforcement of the management of its oil wealth, all of these factors will allow Congo to consolidate its macro-economic situation.

In spite of the many reforms established by the government, the conflicts that Congo has experienced have left the country in a worrisome social situation. Poverty affects two-thirds of the population, the health care system is inadequate and the psychological traumas caused by the war are significant.

 

Learn more about Market Analyses about Congo on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Service Providers.

 

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

43.6/100

Position:

Controlled

World Rank:

161/179

Regional Rank:

42/45

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

 

Country Risk

See the Country Risk Analysis Provided By Ducroire.

 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:

Not Free

Political Freedom:

6/7

Civil Liberties:

5/7

Map of freedom 2010
Source: Freedom House

Note: The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

90/179

Evolution:

24 places up compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

Sources of General Economic Information

Main Online Newspapers and Portals

Allafrica, Congo News
News Congo
BCC Country Profile, Congo
Congo Information Portal

Useful Resources

Ministry of Economy and Finance
Bank of Central African States

© Export Entreprises SA, All Rights Reserved.
Last Updates: May 2012