Burkina Faso
As a least-developed country (LDC), Burkina Faso is a beneficiary of the EU's "Everything but Arms" (EBA) arrangement. The World Bank considers Burkina Faso a low-income economy with a per-capita income of $883 in 2023. EU imports from Burkina Faso amounted to about €113 million in 2023. As many of Burkina Faso's export products enter the EU duty-free under the EU's normal tariff regime, the scope for preferential imports is limited - these reached €21.6 million in 2023.
What is the EBA?
The EBA arrangement covers all LDCs as classified by the United Nations. This arrangement enables duty-free and quota-free access for all products originating in LDCs except for arms and ammunition. Unlike beneficiaries of the Standard GSP and GSP+, LDCs are not excluded from the scheme if they benefit from other preferential arrangements or agreements with the EU.
At a glance: EU preferential imports from EBA beneficiary countries (2023, € million)
23.0M (2023)
Population
Presidential Republic
Government
3.0% (2023)
GDP Growth
0.7% (2023)
Inflation
$ 20.3B (2023)
GDP
Facts about Burkina Faso's economy
Export Products
Burkina Faso's most important export products are gold and cotton, as well as a number of other agricultural products such as cashew nuts, sesame seeds, oil seeds, and vegetable fats and oils. Gold alone accounts for about three quarters of total export earnings, making the economy vulnerable to price fluctuations in this commodity.
Trade Partners
Burkina Faso's main trading partners are Switzerland and the EU. Switzerland is the most important export market, accounting for over 70% of exports in 2023 (mostly gold). Important regional trading partners are Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.
Economic Structure
About 80% of the country's population is working in the agricultural sector, with cotton being the most important crop. Large parts of the agricultural sector operate through subsistence farming. Burkina Faso benefits from significant manganese and gold deposits. Most industries remain underdeveloped, although some factories exist which focus on food and beverages, textiles, shoes, and bicycle parts. The services sector absorbed recent losses in the agricultural sector and mining industry.
Trade with the EU
Total trade with the EU amounted to €1.3 billion in 2023. The EU is Burkina Faso's fourth most supplier (accounting for 21.8% of the country's total imports in 2023) and second most important trading partner overall (14.1% of Burkina Faso's total trade).
Development Challenges
Burkina Faso is a landlocked economy which faces a number of development challenges. This includes the continuously high share of the population, about 40%, living below the national poverty line as well as persistent security risks. Nonetheless, economic indicators in recent years suggested a stable macroeconomic environment.
Usage of EBA Preferences
Currently about 21% of EU imports from Burkina Faso make use of the preferential access granted by the EBA (much of the rest is gold, which attracts no duties in the EU). The preference utilisation rate, which represents the ratio of preferential imports to GSP eligible imports, stood at 92% in 2023.
Burkina Faso and the EU
Imports from Burkina Faso by product section (2023, € million)
Imports from Burkina Faso over time (€ million)
BURKINA FASO AND THE EU GSP
Economic Impact
23%
Share of Burkina Faso's exports to the EU that were eligible for EBA preferences in 2023.
92%
Burkina Faso's preference utilisation rate in 2023.
98%
Share of zero-duty imports from Burkina Faso. Most imports are duty-free under normal EU tariffs.
Preference utilisation and export diversification
EU imports from Burkina Faso (€ million)
Preference utilisation (%) vs. total eligible imports (in € million)
Because most EU imports from Burkina Faso attract no duties under the normal tariff regime, the share of eligible imports is relatively low. Nevertheless, eligible imports increased strongly until 2020 but since then slightly decreased again until 2023. Burkina Faso’s preference utilisation rate was around 95% between 2017 and 2022 but slightly dropped to 92% in 2023, mostly due to a shar reduction in the utilisation of preferences by the relatively important sector of cereals, oils seeds and lac & gums. The other leading product groups held their utilisation rates of around 95%.
The largest product sections under EBA (€ million, 2023)
Fruit and vegetable as well as mineral products used to be the main products imported from Burkina Faso, but the latter stopped in 2022. Because most fruit and vegetable imports are duty free under the EU's normal tariffs, the most important preferential imports are animal and vegetable fats, which account for 80% of preferential imports, followed by fruit and vegetables. Both have a very high preference utilisation rate.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
As a beneficiary of the EBA, Burkina Faso is not obligated to ratify any conventions to be able to benefit from preferential access to the EU market. Nonetheless, Burkina Faso maintains a very high level of ratification and has ratified all 15 core international conventions on human and labour rights. This includes 7 UN human rights conventions and 8 ILO conventions on labour standards. Additionally, Burkina Faso has ratified 8 conventions on environmental protection and 4 conventions on good governance aspects.
Core international conventions on human rights and labour standards
Ratified
- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969)
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976)
- International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (1976)
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981)
- Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987)
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)
- Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, No 29 (1930)
- Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, No 87 (1948)
- Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively, No 98 (1949)
- Convention concerning Equal Remuneration of Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, No 100 (1951)
- Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour, No 105 (1957)
- Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, No 111 (1958)
- Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, No 138 (1973)
- Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, No 182 (1999)
Additional Conventions
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973)
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987)
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989)
- Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992)
- Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000)
- Stockholm Convention on persistent Organic Pollutants (2001)
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1998)
- United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961)
- United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)
- United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)
- United Nations Convention against Corruption (2004)
EU-Burkina Faso Bilateral Development Cooperation
DG INTPA
Access all info about EU-Burkina Faso relations on the International Partnerships website.