ATI

COUNTRY PROFILE

Cameroon

Cameroon is a lower-middle-income country in Central Africa. Between 2000 and 2020, the country had consistent economic growth, but it remains a low economic transformer with a score of 19.4. Cameroon scores below the African average in all DEPTH dimensions except for Diversification. The country made some progress on economic transformation between 2000 and 2010, but this has since reversed.
CAPITAL CITY

Yaoundé

POPULATION (2022)

27.9 million

POPULATION GROWTH (2022)

2.6 %

GDP GROWTH (2022)

3.5 %

GDP PER CAPITA (2022)

US $1,589

Cameroon’s Performance on the African Transformation Index

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The overall African Transformation Index score measures the five dimensions of DEPTH.

Overall score

19.4 /100

Score change
+1.9

since 2000

At a glance
  • Cameroon is a low economic transformer with an overall ATI score of 19.4.
  • Cameroon falls below the African average on all DEPTH dimensions except for Diversification.
  • Overall, Cameroon made gains on economic transformation between 2000 and 2008, but most of that progress has since eroded.
  Score
/100
Change since 2000
Diversification
39
-3.8
Export competitiveness
5.9
+0.8
Productivity increases
9.9
0.0
Technology upgrading
15.4
+9.7
Human well-being
27
+3.0

Diversification of production and exports measures countries’ capability to produce and export a widening array of goods and services.

Score

39.0 /100

Score change
-3.8

since 2000

At a glance
  • Cameroon is slightly more diversified than the African average. However, in recent years, its diversification progress has stalled.
  • Cameroon has diversified broadly towards the services sector, which has overtaken agriculture as the dominant pillar of the economy.
  • The country’s share of its top five commodity exports (crude petroleum, cocoa, refined petroleum product, sawn wood, and other rough wood) constitutes almost three-quarters of total exports.
  • The manufacturing sector’s share in the economy is not only small but has been shrinking over time. The services sectors did see an increase in activity, but this mainly involved the emergence of more low-productivity, low-wage informal businesses.

Export competitiveness is measured as the ratio of a country’s share in the world’s exports of non-extractive goods and services to its share in world non-extractive GDP.

Score

5.9 /100

Score change
+0.8

since 2000

At a glance
  • Between 2005 and 2020, Cameroon added three new products to its export basket, all of which are traditional primary commodities: coal, lignite, and peat; petroleum gases; and gold.
  • Although its share of exports in GDP relative to that of the world has improved slightly, Cameroon has still not been able to capture a significant share of the global market in non-extractive exports.

Productivity increases measure the value added per unit of labor in agriculture, manufacturing, and services.

Score

9.9 /100

Score change
0.0

since 2000

At a glance
  • Cameroon’s productivity has stayed low and flat since 2000.
  • Unlike most of its peers, Cameroon has seen its services sector productivity decline in recent years.
  • Cameroon faces a number of challenges that keep production factor costs high and reduce foreign investment, including administrative bottlenecks, excessive bureaucracy, bank credit restrictions, and distortions in public utilities.

Technology upgrading measures the medium-and high-technology content in total production activities and total commodity exports.

Score

15.4 /100

Score change
+9.7

since 2000

At a glance
  • Cameroon performs poorly in this dimension, despite strong progress between 2000 and 2020.
  • The most significant gains came in the early 2000s, through various measures to improve energy production, infrastructure development, and digitalize the economy.
  • Since 2012 Cameroon has seen a significant decline in exports with medium- and high-technology content, while technology in production has been flat.

Human well-being measures economic and social outcomes and enablers in terms of incomes, income inequality, formal employment, and female participation in formal labor markets.

Score

27 /100

Score change
+3.0

since 2000

At a glance
  • Since 2013, Cameroon’s Human well-being score has increased, albeit slowly, from 23.3 to 27 in 2020.
  • Cameroon has seen a rapid increase in income inequality alongside improvements in formal sector employment and income per capita, limiting its performance in this dimension.

Discover more from the ATI

ATI Scorecard

Explore the data behind the economic transformation progress of 30 African countries between 2000-2020.

Growth with DEPTH

Explore the ATI in DEPTH and see how African countries performed on each dimension between 2000-2020.

Methodology

Learn more about our methodology, sources, and how we calculate the index.

Country Profiles

To explore the results of the index in greater detail and provide context and analysis, the ATI report includes 11 case studies.

Downloads

Our Research & Analysis on Cameroon
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