Economy of Chad

The economy of Chad suffers from the landlocked country's geographic remoteness, drought, lack of infrastructure, and political turmoil. About 80% of the population depends on subsistence agriculture, including livestock herding. Of Africa's Francophone countries, Chad benefited least from the 50% devaluation of their currencies in January 1994. Financial aid from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and other sources is directed mainly at improving agriculture, especially livestock production. Because of a lack of financing, the development of oil fields near Doba, originally due to finish in 2000, was delayed until 2003. It was finally developed and is now operated by ExxonMobil. until 2023 Regarding gross domestic product, Chad ranks 147th globally with $11.051 billion as of 2018.

Agriculture

Chad produced in 2023:

878 thousand tons of sorghum;
782 thousand tons of groundnuts;
634 thousand tons of millet;
552 thousand tons of cereal;
469 thousand tonnes of yam ;
454 thousand tons of sugarcane;
354 thousand tons of maize;
288 thousand tons of cassava;
224 thousand tons of rice;
218 thousand tons of sweet potato;
210 thousand tons of sesame seed;
150 thousand tons of beans;
165 thousand 480-lb bales of cotton;

In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.

Macro-economic trend

The following table shows the leading economic indicators from 1980 to 2024.

Year	GDP	GDP per capita	GDP	GDP Growth	Government debt
1980	2.3	498	1.0	-6.0%	n/a
1985	3.6	704	1.3	7.9%	n/a
1990	5.2	872	2.5	3.2%	n/a
1995	6.8	970	2.2	-0.8%	n/a
2000	8.4	1,005	2.1	-0.9%	49.9%
2005	18.9	1,875	9.1	8.3%	20.9%
2006	19.8	1,898	10.2	1.7%	19.0%
2007	21.2	1,957	12.0	3.9%	16.0%
2008	22.5	2,008	14.4	4.0%	14.6%
2009	23.3	2,011	13.0	2.9%	22.6%
2010	26.0	2,175	14.3	10.5%	22.5%
2011	26.9	2,174	16.2	1.3%	22.9%
2012	29.3	2,290	16.2	6.9%	22.1%
2013	31.4	2,379	16.9	5.6%	23.5%
2014	34.0	2,485	18.2	6.1%	29.4%
2015	34.7	2,462	14.5	1.4%	32.1%
2016	32.9	2,256	13.4	-6.3%	38.1%
2017	32.8	2,182	13.3	-2.0%	36.8%
2018	36.0	2,325	15.3	5.9%	33.3%
2019	39.3	2,462	14.9	6.6%	38.0%
2020	36.8	2,240	14.6	-2.1%	41.2%
2021	41.0	2,422	15.9	-0.9%	42.4%
2022	45.5	2,612	16.3	3.6%	34.5%
2023	49.4	2,758	17.6	4.9%	32.7%
2024	52.2	2,832	18.7	3.2%	31.5%

Other statistics

GDP:
purchasing power parity – $28.62 billion
GDP – real growth rate:
-3.1%
GDP – per capita:
$2,300
Gross national saving:
15.5% of GDP
GDP – composition by sector:

agriculture:
52.3%

industry:
14.7%

services:
33.1%
Population below poverty line::
46.7%
Distribution of family income – Gini index:
43.3
Inflation rate :
-0.9%
Labor force:
5.654 million
Labor force – by occupation:
agriculture 80%, industry and services 20%
Budget:

revenues:
1.337 billion

expenditures:
1.481 billion
Budget surplus or deficit :
-1.5%
Public debt:
52.5% of GDP
Industries:
oil, cotton textiles, brewing, natron, soap, cigarettes, construction materials
Industrial production growth rate:
-4%
electrification: total population: 4%
electrification: urban areas: 14%
electrification: rural areas: 1%
Electricity – production:
224.3 million kWh
Electricity – production by source:

fossil fuel:
~98%

hydro:
0%

nuclear:
0%

other renewable:
~3%
Electricity – consumption:
208.6 million kWh
Electricity – exports:
0 kWh
Electricity – imports:
0 kWh
Agriculture – products:
cotton, sorghum, millet, peanuts, sesame, corn, rice, potatoes, onions, cassava, cattle, sheep, goats, camels
Exports:
$2.464 billion
Exports – commodities:
oil, livestock, cotton, sesame, gum arabic, shea butter
Exports – partners:
US 38.7%, China 16.6%, Netherlands 15.7%, UAE 12.2%, India 6.3%
Imports:
$2.16 billion
Imports – commodities:
machinery and transportation equipment, industrial goods, foodstuffs, textiles
Imports – partners:
China 19.9%, Cameroon 17.2%, France 17%, US 5.4%, India 4.9%, Senegal 4.5%
Debt – external:
$1.724 billion
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$22.9 million