Ethiopia’s per capita income hits $700 – official

Ethiopia’s per capita income has reached 700 dollars, the country’s National Planning Commission disclosed on Wednesday.
The per capita income, which stood at 632 US dollars last fiscal year, has seen a 72 US dollars increase this month, the National Planning Deputy Commissioner, Getachew Adem said.

According to the Commissioner, Ethiopia’s economy witnessed a 10.1 per cent annual growth on average during the last four years.

The agriculture sector in particular witnessed a six per cent growth on average, while the service sector grew by 10.7 per cent, he noted.

Poverty level in Ethiopia declined to 22 per cent from 45 per cent 22 years ago, attributable to the huge amount of budget allocated for the education and agriculture sectors, Getachew said.

Although the growth of the manufacturing sector is not as expected, it produced 13 per cent growth, while the construction industry registered a 26 per cent advance, he added.

Poor tax collection and export have reportedly remained to be the major challenges for the non-oil producing east African nation.