From 2010 to 2023, Ivory Coast has been one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Looking ahead, international financial organizations expect the country will continue its path of growth, improving the lives of its millions of residents.
Located in West Africa, Ivory Coast borders Ghana to the east and Liberia and Guinea to the west. Its northern neighbors are Burkina Faso and Mali, and to its south is the Atlantic Ocean. The country occupies a total area of about 124,503 square miles, making it slightly larger than the state of New Mexico. It has a tropical climate along its 320 miles of coast line and semi-arid climate in the northern parts. It's population stands at over 29 million people, and French is its official language.
From 2012 to 2019, the World Bank put Ivory Coast’s real year-over-year GDP growth at an average of 8.2 percent. This was one of the highest growth rates in Africa. Growth slowed down to 2 percent in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but rebounded strongly to 7 percent in 2021 and 5.5 percent in 2022.
In 2022, Ivory Coast’s GDP stood at $70.18 billion. Agricultural products and industrial raw materials make up a large part of the country’s exports. Some of Ivory Coast’s main exports in 2022 were cocoa beans, cashew nuts, oil, gold, rubber, and Brazil nuts. Its main imports were oil, rice, and frozen fish. The country has maintained a positive trade balance (value of exports exceeding imports) for years. In 2021, it exported $14.99 billion worth of products and imported $14 billion worth of goods. Ivory Coast’s service industries contributed 52.2 percent of the country’s GDP in 2022, and employed 47 percent of its workers. Ivory Coast’s industrial sector is equally large, contributing 21 percent of its GDP in 2022. Supporting the country’s industrial sector is a wide base of natural resources and an active mining industry. Ivory Coast possesses oil, gas, diamonds, gold, iron ore, nickel, and cobalt. It also has bauxite, manganese, and silica sand.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Ivory Coast’s GDP growth will be 6.5 percent in 2023 and 6.6 percent in 2024. It predicts the country’s GDP will pass the $100 billion mark in 2026. It bases its forecasts on the strength and diversity of the country’s economy as well as foreign investments, industrial activity, and consumption.
Other factors that support Ivory Coast’s growth are its youthful population (median age of 21 years) and high literacy rates (89.9 percent of the population aged 15 years and above can read and write). The country is also investing heavily in its energy, transport, and telecommunications infrastructure. More than 71 percent of the country has access to electricity, and mobile phone subscriptions exceed the country’s population by over 50 percent.
However, the country does have its fair share of challenges. Its debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 56.8 percent in 2022, and political tensions have rocked the country in previous years. Further, political instability in neighboring northern countries coupled with terror attacks in the north could slow progress. The country’s leadership will have to navigate these problems to ensure the nation's continued growth.
