Country Facts - Togo

The People

Nationality

Togolese (singular and plural)

Ethnic Composition

Native African (37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabre)	99%
European and Syrian-Lebanese	less than 1%

Religious Composition

Indigenous religions	51%
Christian	29%
Muslim	20%

Languages Spoken

French (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north).

Education and Literacy

Togo's overall adult literacy is around 51.7 percent. Among males it is 67 percent and females 37 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 1.74 million (1996)
By occupation:

Agriculture	65%
Industry	5%
Services	30%

(1998)

Geography

Land Mass Total

21,924 sq mi (56,785 sq km)

Land

20,998 sq mi (54,385 sq km)

Water

926 sq mi (2,400 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,023 mi (1,647 km)
Border countries: Benin 400 mi (644 km), Burkina Faso 78 mi (126 km), Ghana 544 mi (877 km)

Coastline

34 mmi (56 km)

Maritime claim

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 30 nm

Climate/Weather

Tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

Terrain

Gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Mont Agou 3,234 ft (986 m)

Natural Resources

Phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land

Land use

Arable land	41%
Permanent crops	2%
Other	57%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter; periodic droughts

Environment - current issues

Deforestation attributable to slash-and-burn agriculture and the use of wood for fuel; water pollution presents health hazards and hinders the fishing industry; air pollution increasing in urban areas.

Geography Note

The country's length allows it to stretch through six distinct geographic regions; climate varies from tropical to savanna.

Demographics

Population

5,285,501 (July 2002)

Note: Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.

Age structure

0-14 years:	45.1%	Male: 56,270	Female: 1,187,014
15-64 years:	52.4%	Male: 1,351,345	Female: 1,420,617
65 years and over:	2.5%	Male: 56,270	Female: 75,203

(2002))

Growth Rate

2.48% (2002)

Life Expectancy

54.02 years (2002)
Female: 56.07 years
Male: 52.03 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US $1,500 (2001)

Infant Mortality

69.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.75 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.97 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

This small sub-Saharan economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 65 percent of the labor force. Some basic foodstuffs must still be imported. Cocoa, coffee, and cotton generate about 40% of export earnings, with cotton being the most significant cash crop despite falling prices on the world market. Political unrest, including private and public sector strikes throughout 1992 and 1993, jeopardized the reform program, shrunk the tax base, and disrupted vital economic activity. The 12 January 1994 devaluation of the XOF currency by 50 percent provided an important impetus to renewed structural adjustment. In the industrial sector, phosphate mining is by far the most important activity. Togo is the world's fourth largest producer, and geological advantages keep production costs low. The recently privatized mining operation, Office Togolais des Phosphates (OTP), is slowly recovering from a steep fall in prices in the early 1990's, but continues to face the challenge of tough foreign competition, exacerbated by weakening demand. Togo serves as a regional commercial and trade center. It continues to expand its duty-free export-processing zone (EPZ), launched in 1989, which has attracted enterprises from France, Italy, Scandinavia, the U.S., India, and China and created jobs for Togolese nationals.
The government's decade-long effort, supported by the World Bank and the IMF, to implement economic reform measures, encourage foreign investment, and bring revenues in line with expenditures has stalled. Progress depends on following through on privatization, increased openness in government financial operations, progress towards legislative elections, and possible downsizing of the military, on which the regime has depended to stay in place. Lack of large-scale foreign aid, deterioration of the financial sector, energy shortages, and depressed commodity prices continue to constrain economic growth. The takeover of the national power company by a Franco-Canadian consortium in 2000 was designed to ease the energy crisis. The country has middling GDP growth (around 3% from 1999-2002) considering the amount of improvement that needs to be done. Togo was designated as part of the IMFs West Africa Regional Technical Assistance Center (West AFRITAC) in 2003. This group will provide assistance in macroeconomic policy, debt management and micro-finance, financial sector policies, tax policy, revenue administration, and public expenditure management.

Unemployment

Current information not available

Inflation Rate

2.3% (2001)

Industries

Phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement; handicrafts, textiles, beverages

Exports

US$306 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$420 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$7.6 billion (2001

Top Export Partners

Benin 12%, Nigeria 9%, Belgium 5%, Ghana 4% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Ghana 26%, France 11%, China 7%, Cote d'Ivoire 7% (2000)

Top Exports

Cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa

Top Imports

Machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products

Debt - external

US$1.5 billion (1999)

Economic aid

US$201.1 million (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	7a.m. to noon, and 2:30p.m. to 5:30p.m.	Closed
Retail	8a.m. to noon and 12:30p.m. to 5:30p.m.	Saturday 7:30a.m. to 12:30p.m.
Banks	7:30a.m. to 11:30a.m., and 2:30p.m. to 4p.m.	Closed
Government	7a.m. to noon, and 2:30p.m. to 5:30p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
Independence Day (1967)	January 13	January 13	January 13
Economic Liberation Day	January 24	January 24	January 24
Independence Day	April 27	April 27	April 27

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press