According to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts, Cameroon’s GDP is predicted to reach 37.50 USD billion by the end of 2021. According to our econometric models, the GDP of Cameroon is expected to trend at 38.70 USD billion in 2022.
What is Cameroon’s average per capita income?
Cameroon’s 2020 GDP per capita was $1,499, down 0.54 percent from 2019. The GDP per capita in Cameroon in 2019 was $1,507, down 1.76 percent from 2018. Cameroon’s 2018 GDP per capita was $1,534, up 7.68 percent from 2017.
Is Cameroon a poor or wealthy country?
Cameroon has a population of approximately 25 million people and is a lower-middle-income country (2018). It shares borders with the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria, and is located along the Atlantic Ocean. The northwest and southwest border regions with Nigeria are Anglophone, while the rest of the country is Francophone. Cameroon is rich in natural resources such as oil and gas, mineral ores, and high-value timber species, as well as agricultural products like coffee, cotton, cocoa, maize, and cassava.
In December 2020, the first regional elections were held. Nine of the ten areas were won by the ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM). The decentralization plan outlined in the 1996 Constitution begins with these elections. The new regional councilors will collaborate with the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development to pave the ground for a progressive transfer of power and resources to the regions.
Cameroon has been dealing with Boko Haram attacks in the Far North and a secessionist movement in the Anglophone areas in recent years after decades of tranquility. Since September 2017, more than 500,000 people have been internally displaced, with close to 400 civilians and over 200 law enforcement officers killed. More than 6,000 Central African refugees have migrated to Cameroon’s eastern region since the crisis in the Central African Republic resurfaced in January 2021, with the eastern area already holding over 60% of Central African migrants.
Cameroon was housing about 440,461 refugees in February 2021, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), predominantly from the Central African Republic (319,794) and Nigeria (118,195).
Cameroon’s overall number of poor increased by 12% to 8.1 million between 2007 and 2014, owing to a poverty reduction rate that lags behind its population growth rate. Poverty is concentrated in the country’s northern regions, where 56 percent of the poor dwell.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 resulted in a severe drop in economic activity. Consumption fell sharply as a result of household and company income losses connected to social distancing measures and the uncertainty about the pandemic’s path. Both public and private investments suffered setbacks. Schools and non-COVID-related health services, for example, were significantly affected. Family planning and prenatal care services were both used less frequently, by 37 percent and 18 percent, respectively. The extreme poverty percentage is expected to rise from 24.5 percent in 2019 to 25.3 percent in 2021 as a result of the crisis.
Cameroon, which is ranked 149 out of 180 nations in the 2020 Transparency International corruption perceptions report, has poor governance, which impedes its development and capacity to attract investment.
What is Cameroon’s most important export?
Cameroon has grown steadily but slowly during the previous two decades. According to the IMF, Cameroon’s GDP dropped by 2.8 percent in 2020, owing mostly to the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, but is predicted to return in 2021, with 3.4 percent growth projected. Because the native currency, the Central African Franc, is pegged to the Euro, inflation has been mild throughout the same time period. Cameroon has minor trading links with Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Central African Republic, and Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), despite being a member of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).
Cameroon’s population was estimated to be over 27 million people in 2021, with a per capita GDP of $1,650, while income and wealth are concentrated mostly in Yaound, the capital, and Douala, the country’s economic center.
According to Massachusetts Institute of Technology figures, Cameroon exported $5.21 billion in goods and services in 2019 and imported $6.07 billion, resulting in a $86 million trade deficit.
Crude petroleum ($1.8 billion), cocoa beans ($647 million), sawn wood ($518 million), gold ($454 million), petroleum gas ($404 million), bananas ($266 million), and rough wood ($251 million) were Cameroon’s leading exports.
China ($906 million), the Netherlands ($702 million), Italy ($476 million), the United Arab Emirates ($397 million), and India ($381 million) were the leading export destinations.
Cameroon exported $302 million worth of goods to the United States in 2019.
Crude petroleum ($346 million), scrap boats ($332 million), rice ($323 million), special purpose ships ($216 million), and packaged medications ($169 million) were Cameroon’s major imports in 2019.
China ($1.68 billion), Nigeria ($889 million), France ($567 million), Belgium ($334 million), and Thailand ($237 million) are the major exporters to Cameroon.
The US exported $191 million worth of products and services to Cameroon in 2019.
Since 1982, President Paul Biya has ruled the country.
In October 2018, he was re-elected for a seventh consecutive term in a disputed election.
Cameroon is classified as “Not Free” by Freedom House.
Boko Haram attacks in the Far North Region, the continuous presence of refugees from the Central African Republic in the East Region, and a violent separatist movement in the Northwest and Southwest Regions have all occurred as of 2021.
In the short and medium term, these security problems will stifle economic progress.
Despite these difficulties, Cameroon remains one of the most stable countries in Central Africa.
It is ideally placed between Nigeria, which has a population of 186 million people, and the oil-rich CEMAC region, which has a population of 50 million people.
Cameroon has the potential to act as a central African center for large regional energy and transportation infrastructure projects.
The IMF authorized a three-year, $689.5 million hybrid Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility in July 2021, primarily to address the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and to implement macroeconomic structural reforms.
This initiative comes after the IMF issued a three-year, $666 million Extended Credit Facility in 2017 to help the country deal with the twin shocks of low oil prices and security concerns.
Which African country has the highest per capita income?
- Seychelles: With a GDP per capita of $9,670, this island nation now boasts the highest in Africa.
- Mauritius: Another island African country, Mauritius, takes the number two spot. The GDP per capita in this country is $9,640.
- Gabon: With a GDP per capita of $8,600, this oil-rich country is ranked third.
- South Africa is one of Africa’s most developed economies. It also has a $5,440 GDP per capita.
- Egypt: With a GDP per capita of $3,830, Egypt is one of just two North African countries to make the top ten list.
- Eswatini: Also known as Swaziland, this country in Southern Africa has a GDP per capita of $3,710.
What is Cameroon’s literacy rate?
Cameroon’s adult literacy rate was 77.1 percent in 2018. Cameroon’s adult literacy rate increased from 41.2 percent in 1976 to 77.1 percent in 2018, growing at a 19.57 percent annual rate.
What is Cameroon’s unemployment rate?
Unemployment refers to the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed yet looking for job. The unemployment rate in Cameroon in 2020 was 3.62 percent, up 0.3 percent from 2019. The unemployment rate in Cameroon in 2019 was 3.32 percent, down 0.04 percent from 2018.
In Cameroon, which region is the wealthiest?
The East region of Cameroon, along with the North, Far North, and Adamoua, is one of the poorest in the country. It is, however, the richest in forest and mineral resources.