(DTIS) Update, Volume 1 – Main report - Enhanced Integrated ...

(% GDP)50%40%30%20%10%Figure 1.2: evolution of Burundi's openness to trade in goods0%2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010ExportsImportsSource: Comtrade/WITS (mirror data for exports); WDIThe export base remains particularly narrow. Export growth was slower than GDP growth over thedecade. As a result, goods exports as a share of GDP hovered around 10% between 2005 and 2007, buthave significantly dropped since then to less than 5% in 2010. The export-to-GDP ratio almost doubleswhen services are included, but this is mainly due to the dramatic increase of “government services”exports (cf. below). When government services are excluded and only commercial services are added togoods exports, the share drops to 5.3% of GDP in 2010. These shares are much lower than the averagesfor sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and least-developed countries (LDCs), and also below the performance ofall other members of the East African Community (EAC) (table 1.1). These figures confirm that, unlikemany African countries, Burundi has not managed to embark on an export-led growth path in the recentperiod.Table 1.1: export as a share of GDP (2010,%)Goods Goods & ServicesBurundi 4.8 9.7Rwanda 3.6 10.2Uganda 6.2 13.9Tanzania 12 21Kenya 13.4 25.1LDCs 25.3 28.7SSA 29 32.9Sources: authors’ calculations based on Comtrade/WITS(goods exports, mirror data), UnctadStat (services exports)2010 imports:$404.1 million2010 exports:$77.4 million1.1. Sectoral composition of Burundi’s goods tradeManufacturing imports play a major role in the Burundian economy. Burundi’s imports cover awide range of goods and are dominated by machinery, transport equipment, construction materials, othermanufactured goods and chemical products (figure 1.3a, table 1.2). Manufactures represent about twothirdsof Burundi’s goods imports. Burundi’s import composition largely reflects the lack of a domesticmanufacturing industry and of fuel resources, as well as the limits of a small domestic market thatprevents economies of scale. Moreover, the country is a net food importer, mostly of cereals like malt,rice and wheat.17 / 153