Ethiopia surpasses Kenya to become East Africa's Biggest Economy

nazret.com - For years, reporters writing about Ethiopia's neighbor Kenya refer to it as the biggest economy in East Africa, now no more. Ethiopia has officially taken over Kenya to become East Africa's biggest economy.

According to the CIA World Fact Book, Ethiopia's GDP for the latest year available (2009) is estimated at $33.9 Billion ahead of Kenya's $30.2 Billion which until recently was East Africa's biggest economy, now that bragging right is Ethiopia's.

Ethiopia has enjoyed a double digit economy growth for the past couple of years and The Economist magazine predicts Ethiopia to be the fifth fastest growing economy in the world for 2010. The magazine has criticized the government that few people benefit from the economic growth. Despite the economic growth, Ethiopia still remains to be one of the poorest countries in the world based on GDP per capita and just this week Ethiopian government appealed for aid to feed 5.2 million people.

The good news is that Ethiopia's economy has expanded by more than five fold since the 90s, when Ethiopia's GDP was just $6.0 Billion, but with Ethiopia's population growth, Ethiopia has a long way to become a middle income country.

Ethiopia's GDP per Capita is one of the lowest in the world. Ethiopia has the 9th biggest economy in Africa with South Africa being Africa's economic power followed by Egypt and Nigeria.