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Quick Facts
- Population:
- GDP (PPP):
- $110.8 billion
- 3.0% 5-year compound annual growth
- $4,070 per capita
- Unemployment:
- Inflation (CPI):
- FDI Inflow:
- Public Debt:
Cameroon’s economic freedom score is 51.9, making its economy the 135th freest in the 2023 Index. Its score is 1.0 point worse than last year.. Cameroon is ranked 29th out of 46 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, and its overall score is lower than the regional average.
Weak foundations of economic freedom prevent sustained economic expansion. An unreliable legal system provides little protection for property rights and engenders widespread corruption. The lack of a dynamic private sector holds back economic development. Structural reform has progressed only marginally, and the entrepreneurial environment is not conducive to the creation of economic opportunity.
Background
Former French and British colonies merged in the 1960s to form Cameroon. President Paul Biya, Africa’s second-longest-ruling head of state, abolished term limits in 2008 and won seven-year terms in 2011 and 2018 in elections marred by irregularities. Violence between the Anglophone minority and the central government reportedly has involved atrocities on both sides. The Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram frequently attacks across Cameroon’s 1,230-mile border with Nigeria. The economy depends on oil, which accounts for about 40 percent of export earnings. Cameroon is building Central Africa’s only deep-sea port, financed primarily by China’s Export–Import Bank, and expanding hydropower generation.
Rule of Law
The overall rule of law is weak in Cameroon. The country’s property rights score is below the world average; its judicial effectiveness score is below the world average; and its government integrity score is below the world average.
Government Size
The top individual and corporate tax rates are, respectively, 38.5 percent and 33 percent. The tax burden equals 14.2 percent of GDP. Three-year government spending and budget balance averages are, respectively, 17.3 percent and –2.9 percent of GDP. Public debt equals 45.5 percent of GDP.
Regulatory Efficiency
Structural reform has progressed only marginally, and the overall entrepreneurial environment remains hampered by inefficiency and a lack of transparency. The labor market remains underdeveloped. Informality in labor arrangements is widespread. The most recent available inflation rate is 2.3 percent.
Open Markets
The trade-weighted average tariff rate is 14.9 percent, and layers of nontariff measures discourage more dynamic trade flows. The investment code includes several general minimum and local content requirements. The cost of financing remains high, and access to credit remains limited in rural areas.