What is Ethiopia’s current level of development?
- Ethiopia is located in Eastern Africa. It is a landlocked nation and is surrounded by six other countries (Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti).
- It has a population of approximately 99 million people. It is the second largest African country by population size and tenth by area. A high fertility rate (4.4 children per woman) and slowly falling death rate is causing the population to grow quite rapidly (2.5% per year), so there are increasing numbers of people who need food, clean water, education etc.
- Ethiopia is an LIDC and in 2016 had a GNI per capita of $660 (world average = $10,602). Compared with other sub-Saharan nations, Ethiopia is significantly less wealthy per person and is below the average level for other LIDCs across the world (this could be due to its large population).
- Due to a history of famine, drought, poor healthcare, disease, poverty and confict, Ethiopia has one of the lowest levels of development in the world with an HDI of 0.435 and although life expectancy is increasing (63 years), it is still lower than the world average of 72.
- The country is reliant on agriculture with 89% of all exports and 80% of all jobs. Large-scale agriculture has only recently begun to develop. Ethiopia’s main exports are coffee, livestock products (leather, live animals and meat), oil seeds and pulses, fruits, vegetables and flowers, textiles, natural gum, spices and mineral products. Ethiopia has a trade deficit with more imports than exports.
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