Economy of the African Union

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Main articles: African Economic Community and Economy of Africa

The combined states of the African Union constitute the world's 17th largest economy with a nominal GDP of US$500 billion, ranking after the Netherlands. By measuring GDP by PPP, the African Union's economy totals 1.515 trillion, ranking it 11th after Russia. At the same time, they have a combined total debt of US$200 billion.

The AU has only 2% of the world's international trade. Because over 90% of international trade consists of currency futures, Africa's 2%, however, actually makes up the bulk of real commodity traded worldwide, including about 70% of the world's strategic minerals, including gold and aluminum. Africa is also a large market for American and European industry.

The AU future confederation's goals include the creation of a free trade area, a customs union, a single market, a central bank, and a common currency, thereby establishing economic and monetary union. The current plan is to establish an African Economic Community with a single currency by 2023^[1].

African Economic Community Pillars regional blocs (REC) Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Member states in millions per capita AEC 29,910,442 853,520,010 2,053,706 2,406 53 ECOWAS 5,112,903 251,646,263 342,519 1,361 15 ECCAS 6,667,421 121,245,958 175,928 1,451 11 SADC 9,882,959 233,944,179 737,335 3,152 14 EAC 1,763,777 97,865,428 104,239 1,065 3 COMESA 12,873,957 406,102,471 735,599 1,811 20 IGAD 5,233,604 187,969,775 225,049 1,197 7 Western Sahara 3 266,000 273,008  ?  ? N/A 4 Other African blocs Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Member states in millions per capita CEMAC 1 3,020,142 34,970,529 85,136 2,435 6 SACU 1 2,693,418 51,055,878 541,433 10,605 5 UEMOA 1 3,505,375 80,865,222 101,640 1,257 8 UMA 2 5,782,140 84,185,073 491,276 5,836 5 Agadir 1,703,910 126,066,286 513,674 4,075 4 1 Economic bloc inside a pillar REC 2 Proposed for pillar REC, but objecting participation 3 The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a signatory to the AEC, but not participating in any bloc yet 4 Majority under military occupation by Morocco; some territory administered by the SADR ██ smallest value among the blocs compared ██ largest value among the blocs compared During 2004. Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database This box: view • talk • edit

Most active regional blocs Regional bloc 1 Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Member states 1 in millions per capita EU 3,977,487 460,124,266 11,723,816 25,480 25 CARICOM 462,344 14,565,083 64,219 4,409 14+1 3 ECOWAS 5,112,903 251,646,263 342,519 1,361 15 CEMAC 3,020,142 34,970,529 85,136 2,435 6 EAC 1,763,777 97,865,428 104,239 1,065 3 CSN 17,339,153 370,158,470 2,868,430 7,749 10 GCC 2,285,844 35,869,438 536,223 14,949 6 SACU 2,693,418 51,055,878 541,433 10,605 5 COMESA 3,779,427 118,950,321 141,962 1,193 5 NAFTA 21,588,638 430,495,039 12,889,900 29,942 3 ASEAN 4,400,000 553,900,000 2,172,000 4,044 10 SAARC 5,136,740 1,467,255,669 4,074,031 2,777 8 Agadir 1,703,910 126,066,286 513,674 4,075 4 EurAsEC 20,789,100 208,067,618 1,689,137 8,118 6 CACM 422,614 37,816,598 159,536 4,219 5 PARTA 528,151 7,810,905 23,074 2,954 12+2 3 Reference blocs and countries 2 Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Political divisions in millions per capita UN 133,178,011 6,411,682,270 55,167,630 8,604 192 Brazil 8,514,877 187,560,000 1,576,728 8,584 27 Canada 9,984,670 32,507,874 1,077,000 34,273 13 Germany 357,050 82,438,000 2,521,699 30,579 16 Japan 377,873 128,085,000 3,910,728 35,757 47 China (PRC) 4 9,596,960 1,306,847,624 8,182,000 6,300 33 India 3,287,590 1,102,600,000 3,433,000 3,400 [2] 35 Russia 17,075,200 143,782,338 1,589,000 8,900 89 USA 9,631,418 296,900,571 11,190,000 39,100 50 1 Including data only for full and most active members 2 The first five states in the World by area, population and GDP (PPP) 3 Including non-sovereign autonomous entities of other states 4 Data for the People's Republic of China does not include Hong Kong, Macau and regions administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan). ██ smallest value among the blocs compared ██ largest value among the blocs compared During 2004. Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database This box: view • talk • edit