ATI
COUNTRY PROFILE
Burundi
Burundi is a low-income economy where agriculture remains the backbone of economic activity, employing around 80 percent of the population. Real GDP growth is estimated at 3.5 percent in 2024, up from 2.7 percent in 2023 and driven by a rebound in agriculture, strong domestic demand—particularly public spending—and improvements in electricity supply. However, Burundi faces significant challenges, including climate shocks, fiscal slippages, and regional geopolitical tensions, which continue to threaten the country’s ability to meet its development goals.
CAPITAL CITY
Gitega
POPULATION (2024)
14 million
POPULATION GROWTH (2024)
2.6 %
GDP GROWTH (2024)
3.5 %
GDP PER CAPITA (2024)
US $154
Burundi’s Performance on the African Transformation Index
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The overall African Transformation Index score measures the five dimensions of DEPTH.
Overall score
11.9 /100
Score change
+2.1
since 2000
At a glance
- Burundi is classified as a low economic transformer, with an overall ATI score of 11.9 (out of 100) that places it among the worst-performing countries.
- Despite its low overall ATI scores, the country’s performance on diversification, export competitiveness, and technology upgrading improved between 2000 and 2020.
| Score /100 |
Change since 2000 | ||
 |
Diversification |
25.5 |
+6.4
|
 |
Export competitiveness |
2.8 |
+2.5
|
 |
Productivity increases |
0.4 |
-2.2
|
 |
Technology upgrading |
8.0 |
+5.5
|
 |
Human well-being |
22.9 |
-1.8
|
Diversification of production and exports measures countries’ capability to produce and export a widening array of goods and services.
Score
25.5 /100
Score change
+6.4
since 2000
At a glance
- Burundi’s economic diversification score rose modestly from 19.1 in 2000 to 25.5 in 2020, peaking at 28.7 in 2008.
- This reflects limited but notable progress in a context of a small manufacturing base and an underperforming agricultural sector. In contrast, the services sector’s contribution to GDP increased steadily—from 40.2 percent in 2000 to 44.2 percent in 2020.
- Public administration and trade dominate value added in services, highlighting the government's outsized role and the economy’s narrow structure.
- These trends underscore the need for a pragmatic structural transformation policy that broadens the economic base beyond agriculture and public investment, paving the way for more inclusive, private sector–driven growth.
Export competitiveness is measured as the ratio of a country’s share in the world’s exports of non-extractive goods and services to its share in world non-extractive GDP.
Score
2.8 /100
Score change
+2.5
since 2000
At a glance
- Burundi’s export competitiveness has followed a cyclical trajectory linked to the global commodity supercycle, with the score rising from 0.1 in 2002 to a peak of 11.5 in 2007 before falling to 2.8 in 2020.
- This pattern reflects the country’s continued dependence on a narrow export basket, dominated by gold, coffee, tea, rolled tobacco, and wheat flours. These five products accounted for 75.4 percent of total exports in 2020, down from 96.6 percent in 2000, indicating only modest progress in diversification.
- The economy’s limited industrial base and agro-ecological endowments favor agricultural production, while the absence of large-scale manufacturing reinforces this reliance and constrains long-term competitiveness.
- Burundi faces fragile a business environment, with logistical and infrastructural challenges that hinder its competitiveness and diversification potential.
- These challenges collectively limit Burundi’s ability to diversify its exports, enhance productivity, and compete effectively in global markets. Addressing them will require coordinated reforms in infrastructure, value chain development, trade facilitation, and institutional capacity.
Productivity increases measure the value added per unit of labor in agriculture, manufacturing, and services.
Score
0.4 /100
Score change
-2.2
since 2000
At a glance
- Overall labor productivity in Burundi declined from 2.6 in 2000 to 0.2 in 2013, before modestly recovering to 0.4 by 2020—still well below its regional peers.
- Agricultural productivity has remained steady but low, constrained by recurring droughts, pest infestations, weak infrastructure, and limited technological adoption. While industry has seen gradual improvements since 2006, productivity gains remain uneven.
- Notably, service sector output per worker has been declining, largely due to high informality. This pattern suggests some productivity growth in non-agricultural sectors but also highlights systemic barriers to achieving broad-based industrial and service-sector efficiency.
Technology upgrading measures the medium-and high-technology content in total production activities and total commodity exports.
Score
8.0 /100
Score change
+5.5
since 2000
At a glance
- Burundi’s technology upgrading trajectory has been inconsistent, with its technology upgrading score peaking at 40.1 in 2008 before falling sharply to 8.0 in 2020.
- Although the share of medium- and high-technology exports in total commodity exports has remained relatively stable between 2 and 3 percent, the share of medium- and high-technology manufactures in total production has fluctuated significantly—from 51.6 percent in 2008 to just 10.2 percent in 2020.
- This trend suggests that, despite some presence of advanced manufacturing, these activities have had limited impact on transforming the export structure.
- In particular, there has been little progress in integrating high technology into value-added processing of agricultural products.
- Much of the existing high-technology activity appears to be confined to foreign direct investment enclaves that remain weakly linked to the broader domestic economy.
Human well-being measures economic and social outcomes and enablers in terms of incomes, income inequality, formal employment, and female participation in formal labor markets.
Score
22.9 /100
Score change
-1.8
since 2000
At a glance
- Human well-being in Burundi has deteriorated since 2000, with the country’s ATI score falling to 22.9—well below the African average of 42.5. Economic growth has not been strong enough to meaningfully reduce poverty or income inequality.
- Employment is a significant reason why; a lack of decent jobs has pushed more workers into low-productivity, low-wage informal businesses, while formal employment has remained relatively stagnant.
- Efforts to advance female economic empowerment have also stalled. The share of women in salaried employment dropped from 16 percent in 2000 to just 9.7 percent in recent years, underscoring persistent gender disparities in access to quality jobs.
Discover more from the ATI
ATI Scorecard
Explore the data behind the economic transformation progress of 30 African countries between 2000-2020.
Growth with DEPTH
Explore the ATI in DEPTH and see how African countries performed on each dimension between 2000-2020.
Methodology
Learn more about our methodology, sources, and how we calculate the index.
Country Profiles
To explore the results of the index in greater detail and provide context and analysis, the ATI report includes 11 case studies.
Downloads
Our Research & Analysis on Burundi
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