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 (AU) 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 US$1.515 billion, 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^{[citation needed]}, 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) ($US)		Member states
Pillars regional blocs (REC)	Area (km²)	Population	in millions	per capita	Member states
AEC	29,910,442	853,520,010	2,053,706	2,406	53
ECOWAS	5,112,903	251,646,263	342,519	1,361	15
ECCAS	6,667,421	121,245,958	175,928	1,451	11
SADC	9,882,959	233,944,179	737,335	3,152	15
EAC	1,817,945	124,858,568	104,239	1,065	5
COMESA	12,873,957	406,102,471	735,599	1,811	20
IGAD	5,233,604	187,969,775	225,049	1,197	7
Western Sahara ¹	266,000	273,008	?	?	N/A ²
Other African blocs	Area (km²)	Population	GDP (PPP) ($US)		Member states
Other African blocs	Area (km²)	Population	in millions	per capita	Member states
CEMAC ³	3,020,142	34,970,529	85,136	2,435	6
SACU ³	2,693,418	51,055,878	541,433	10,605	5
UEMOA ³	3,505,375	80,865,222	101,640	1,257	8
UMA ⁴	5,782,140	84,185,073	491,276	5,836	5
GAFTA ⁵	5,876,960	166,259,603	635,450	3,822	5
¹ The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a signatory to the AEC, but not participating in any bloc yet ² Majority under military occupation by Morocco; some territory administered by the SADR ³ Economic bloc inside a pillar REC ⁴ Proposed for pillar REC, but objecting participation ⁵ Non-African members of GAFTA are excluded from figures 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**
(as of 2004, except as noted)
Regional bloc¹	Area		Population	GDP ($US)				Member states¹
Regional bloc¹	km²	sq mi	Population	in millions (PPP)	in millions (nominal)	per capita (PPP)	per capita (nominal)	Member states¹
AU	29,797,500	11,504,879	897,548,804	1,515,000	1,131,850	1,896	1,261	53
ASEAN (2007 est.)	4,497,493	1,736,000	566,500,000	3,115,480	1,173,000	5,541	2,041	10
CACM	422,614	163,172	37,816,598	159,536	84,792	4,219	2,242	5
CARICOM	462,344	178,512	14,565,083	64,219	24,020	4,409	1,649	(14+1)³
CCASG / GCC	2,285,844	882,569	35,869,438	536,223	717,800	14,949	20,011	6
CEFTA	298,148	115,116	28,929,682	222,041	122,001	7,675	4,217	(7+1)³
EU (2007 est.)	4,324,782	1,669,808	497,000,000	14,953,000	16,574,000	28,213	33,482	27
EurAsEC	20,789,100	8,026,720	208,067,618	1,689,137	1,125,528	8,118	5,409	6
EFTA (2007 est.)	529,600	204,480	12,660,623	567,500	743,300	44,828	60,000	4
GAFTA	9,421,946	3,637,834	280,727,416	1,341,298	N/A	4,778	N/A	(16+1)³
GUAM	810,506	312,938	63,764,600	456,173	106,469	7,154	1,670	4
NAFTA (2007 est.)	21,783,850	8,410,792	445,000,000	15,857,000	15,723,000	35,491	35,564	3
PARTA	528,151	203,920	7,810,905	23,074	N/A	2,954	N/A	(12+2)³
SAARC	5,136,740	1,983,306	1,467,255,669	4,074,031	N/A	2,777	N/A	8
Unasur / Unasul	17,339,153	6,694,684	370,158,470	2,868,430	N/A	7,749	N/A	12
UN and countries for reference²	Area		Population	GDP ($US)				Units⁴
UN and countries for reference²	km²	sq mi	Population	in millions (PPP)	in millions (nominal)	per capita (PPP)	per capita (nominal)	Units⁴
UN	133,178,011	51,420,318	6,411,682,270	55,167,630	48,245,198	8,604	7,524	192
Brazil (2007 est.)	8,514,877	3,287,612	183,888,841	1,804,000	1,067,706	10,073	6,842	27
Canada (2007 est.)	9,984,670	3,855,103	33,000,000	1,274,000	1,406,000	38,200	42,738	13
India (2007 est.)	3,287,590	1,269,346	1,120,000,000	4,726,000	1,089,000	4,182	1,004	35
Japan (2007 est.)	377,873	145,898	127,433,494	4,346,000	4,346,000	33,800	38,341	47
PR China⁵ (2007 est.)	9,596,960	3,705,407	1,321,851,888	7,043,000	3,420,000	5,300	2,800	33
Russia (2007 est.)	17,075,200	6,592,772	142,500,000	2,076,000	1,286,000	14,600	9,056	83
USA (2007 est.)	9,826,630	3,794,083	302,000,000	13,543,000	13,794,700	43,500	45,594	50
Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database, IMF nominal figures for 2006.^{[citation needed]} Legend smallest value among the blocs compared largest value among the blocs compared Footnotes ¹ Including data only for full and most active members. ² Including the largest five countries by area, population (not #4), GDP (PPP) (not #5), and GDP (nominal) (not #3 or #5). ³ Including non-sovereign autonomous areas of other states. ⁴ Members or administrative divisions. ⁵ Data for the People's Republic of China does not include Hong Kong, Macau, or the independent Republic of China (Taiwan) (over which PRC claims sovereignty). This box: view • talk • edit