Country Profile
Generic Information
Rwanda is a small but growing market, with a population of nearly 13 million people and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP, Current) of $10.354 billion, according to the World Bank. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Rwanda enjoyed strong economic growth, averaging over seven percent GDP growth annually over the last two decades. The Rwandan economy grew more than nine percent in 2019 thanks to strong growth in industry, construction, services, and agriculture.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Rwandan economy experienced its first recession since 1994, with a 3.4 percent GDP contraction in 2020. In February 2020, the World Bank reported that Rwanda was among the most affected economies in Africa since the difference between pre-and post-growth projections reached 8 percent. In May 2021, the IMF projected Rwandan GDP growth to rebound to 5.1 percent by the end of 2021. Rwanda’s economic recovery from the pandemic has been affected by delays in obtaining vaccines and resurgences of infections driven by more contagious variants, prompting the Government of Rwanda (GOR) to impose lockdowns from time to time. As of June19, 2022, 66 percent of all Rwandans had received at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccination rates are even higher in Kigali city.
The World Bank reported in July 2021 that Rwanda’s public debt increased from 61 percent of GDP in 2019 to 71.4 percent in 2020 and was expected to reach 81 percent in 2023. Public debt increased due to reduced revenue, the need to support a struggling private sector and households impacted by lockdowns, inflation, and general government expenses. The percentage of foreign assistance (external grants and loans) in the country’s annual budget has dropped from over 80 percent a decade ago to 33 percent in the 2021/2022 National Budget.
Leading sectors include energy, agriculture, trade and hospitality, and financial services. Rwanda’s economy is overwhelmingly rural and heavily dependent on agriculture. Strong growth in the services sector over the past decade, particularly in construction and tourism, has contributed to overall economic growth. GNI per capita was $830 in 2019, according to the World Bank.
The government is seeking to turn Rwanda into a regional trade, logistics, and conference hub. Pillars of this strategy include the construction of several new international business class hotels, a convention center in downtown Kigali, a new inland container terminal and bonded warehouse in Kigali. The government has also invested in expanding the fleet for the national carrier RwandAir and is pursuing U.S. authorization for a direct flight from Kigali to the United States. Construction of the new Bugesera International Airport is ongoing.
Rwanda’s principal exports (coffee, tea, cassiterite, coltan, wolfram, hides and skins, and pyrethrum) decreased 10 percent in value and 8 percent in volume between 2019 and 2020 due to reduced global demand from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN). Major markets for coffee exports are the United States and Europe, while Middle Eastern countries and Pakistan are the main buyers of Rwandan tea. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism was the country’s leading foreign exchange earner. In October 2020, the IMF predicted that Rwanda’s tourism revenues would fall from $411 million in 2019 to only $82 million in 2020. Revenues from Rwandan strategic investments in meetings, incentives, conferences/conventions and events/exhibitions (MICE) are expected to recover slowly given disruptions to international travel patterns and advances in teleworking.
Rwanda’s small industrial sector contributes around 19 percent to GDP and employs less than three percent of the population. The services sector – including tourism - generates almost half of GDP (46 percent) and has grown at an average annual rate of around ten percent in recent years. Rwanda is highly import-dependent, and the Rwandan government faces chronic and large current account deficits. In 2020, imports totaled $3.109 billion compared to $2.725 billion in 2019, an increase of 14 percent due to increased imports of consumer goods. Imports of capital and intermediary goods increased by 5 percent and 6 percent respectively while energy product imports decreased by 33 percent over the past two years, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. In 2020, principal imports included electrical machinery and parts; electronic equipment and parts; machinery appliances and parts; vehicles and accessories; cereals and other food stuffs; pharmaceutical products; construction equipment including iron and steel; and energy and petroleum products. China, Europe, Kenya, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Tanzania are among Rwanda’s major suppliers.
U.S.-Rwanda bilateral trade in 2020 totaled $60 million ($27.4 million in exports to Rwanda, $32.6 in imports from Rwanda) compared to $64.5 million ($18.9 million exports to Rwanda and $45.6 million imports from Rwanda) in 2019. Rwandan exports to the United States have grown significantly over the last 10 years. However, after Rwanda implemented higher tariffs on imports of secondhand clothing and footwear in 2016, the U.S. government partially suspended African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) benefits for apparel products from Rwanda, effective May 2018. Many other Rwandan exports to the United States are still eligible for trade preferences under the Generalized System of Preferences and AGOA.
(World Bank, 2021)
Rwanda Wikipedia Country Information World Bank, Climate country profile, Rwanda 2021 : https://reliefweb.int/report/rwanda/climate-risk-country-profile-rwanda
Rwanda Economist Intelligence Unit Information* Rwanda Economy, Politics and GDP Growth Summary - The Economist Intelligence Unit (eiu.com)
Humanitarian Info
Rwanda World Food Programme Information Rwanda | World Food Programme (wfp.org)
Rwanda UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Information Rwanda | OCHA (unocha.org)
Facts and Figures
Rwanda Wolfram Alpha Information rwanda - Wolfram|Alpha (wolframalpha.com)
Rwanda World Bank Information Rwanda: Development news, research, data | World Bank
Rwanda Population Information Rwanda Population 2022 (Live) (worldpopulationreview.com)
