From 2016 to 2019 the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of East Africa has grown slowly. The agriculture sector accounts for the major part of economic growth, followed by industry. Ethiopia, Tanzania, Djibouti, Rwanda, Seychelles and Kenya are the main contributors to the GDP growth. South Sudan is the worst performing country in the region, but will experience also GDP growth in 2019. In figure 1 the GDP growth is shown.
Source: AfDB statistics.
Despite the economic growth, poverty still exists. Almost half of the population of Africa lives below the poverty line of $1,25 a day. In 2017 the average unemployment of East Africa was 36,1%. Uganda and Rwanda experienced the lowest unemployment with both a rate of 17%. Djibouti experienced the highest employment rate of 75,1%. Besides poverty, there is also a lot inequality in East Africa. The richest 20% of the population possesses half of the income, while in the poorest 20% of the population this is only 5%. Despite an improvement of poverty reduction in the last years, the inequality remains the same.
Economy influences the health in a country in different ways. For example the a higher GDP can lead to a better health, if this GDP will be invested in health. The health expenditure as percentage of the GDP varies from 2,96% in Eritrea to 9,83% in Malawi (in 2016. data of South Sudan and Somalia aren’t available) (2). The health expenditure per capita is way higher in Mauritius and Seychelles (respectively 553,10 and 596,92 US$) than in other countries in East Africa (18,46-93,94 US$). This can also explain the higher life expectancy in Seychelles and Mauritius (3). Unemployment also influences health, because if someone has a stable income, this person can use this income for out-of-pocket health costs.
Sources used:
– https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/2018AEO/African-Economic-Outlook-2018-East-Africa.pdf
– https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?locations=KE-BI-KM-DJ-ER-ET-MG-MW-MU-MZ-RW-SC-SO-TZ-ZM-ZW-SS&most_recent_year_desc=true
– https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.PC.CD?locations=KE-BI-KM-DJ-ER-ET-MG-MW-MU-MZ-RW-SC-SO-TZ-ZM-ZW-SS&most_recent_value_desc=true
East Africa 