Download The European Union and the African Union

The European Union and
the African Union
A statistical portrait
2016 edition
co m pac t
g uides
Cooperation for high quality official statistics
Eurostat, at the centre of the European Statistical System, and the
Statistics Division of the African Union Commission (AUSTAT), at the
centre of the African Statistical System, engage to share good practices
and lessons learnt from their experiences in producing statistics across
the different domains at regional level.
The Statistics Division of the African Union Commission, the African
Centre for Statistics of the United Nation Economic Commission for
Africa and the Statistics Department of the African Development Bank,
together with the African Capacity Building Foundation, constitute the
African Statistical Coordination Committee. They cooperate in strategic
initiatives for statistical development in Africa, including the African
Charter on Statistics, the Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in
Africa, the African Statistical Yearbook, etc.
This leaflet presents some highlights from the 2016 edition of the ‘The
European Union and the African Union; a Statistical Portrait’, jointly
prepared by Eurostat and AUSTAT. The main publication provides a wide
range of detailed statistics and offers a broad comparative view of the
EU and AU regions in figures.
Africa-EU Strategic Partnership
Africa’s continental integration is a key priority for the strategic
partnership between the African Union and the EU. The new
Pan-African Programme provides a major contribution to the Africa-EU
Partnership, established in 2007 with the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES).
The programme is a key instrument for the EU to implement, in close
cooperation with African partners, the political priorities of the Joint
roadmap 2014­–2017.
To achieve the strategic objectives of the 4th priority area agreed
in 2015 between the European Commission and the African Union
Commission (economic growth for poverty reduction, creation of
decent jobs, development of the private sector, continental integration,
energy, industrialisation and investment), support for statistical capacity
building is considered essential. Decisions to invest or develop new
policies need to be based on reliable and comparable data. Therefore,
cooperation between the European Statistical System and the African
Statistical System in producing quality statistical service is being
enhanced.
Within the Africa-EU Partnership and the JAES, the EU supports capacity
building for statistics in the African Union.
The Pan-African Statistics (PAS) programme, as part of the overall
Pan-African Programme, therefore aims to support African integration by
improving the availability and quality of statistical information required
for informed decision-making and policy monitoring. To this end it will
provide technical assistance to enhance harmonisation of statistics on
the continent and to foster institutional capacity building.
Key aspects of the socio-economic situation
According to UN projections, the importance of Africa in the world
population will increase substantially over the coming decades, from
16.1 % of the world population in 2015 to 25.5 % by 2050. Infant and child
mortality in Africa are steadily falling. At the same time, estimated life
expectancy in Africa is rising, reaching 61.1 years in 2015. In comparison,
life expectancy for the world of the whole is 70.1 years and in the EU 80.9
years (2014).
The African economy is also growing steadily. Overall inflation has
remained between 7 % and 9 % since 2010, substantially higher than in
the EU. Although GDP per capita in many African countries still remains
well below EU levels, economic development in Africa is reflected in a
strong GDP growth in many countries. Ethiopia, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire
recorded the highest GDP growth from 2014 to 2015.
There are strong trade ties between Africa and the EU. In 2015, the main
African trade partners for imports of goods to the EU were Algeria, South
Africa and Nigeria. The main African destinations for EU-28 exports were
South Africa, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. The main product group
imported to the EU from Africa is energy products, representing 47 %
of the value of the EU’s imports from Africa in 2015. However, falling oil
prices have led to a substantial fall in the value of the oil and gas imports
from Africa over recent years. The main product group exported from
the EU to Africa is machinery and vehicles, comprising both cars and
machinery for industry, mining, extraction and energy production.
Mobile communications, both telephony and data transfer, are a key
driving force for the information society. In both Africa and Europe, the
number of subscriptions per capita is increasing, with Gabon, Botswana,
Seychelles and Libya among the top 10 countries in Africa in terms of
mobile communications.
World population by regions, 2015 and 2050
(% of total world population)
2015
Caribbean,
Central and
South
America
Northern
America
4.9 %
Oceania
0.5 %
8.6 %
Rest of
Europe (1)
3.1 %
EU-28
6.9 %
Africa
16.1 %
Asia
59.8 %
2050 (2)
Caribbean,
Central and
South
America
8.1 %
Northern
America
4.5 %
Oceania
0.6 %
Rest of
Europe (1)
1.9 %
EU-28
5.4 %
Asia
54.2 %
Africa
25.5 %
(1) Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Hezegovina, Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Kosovo*, Liechtenstein,
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Russia, Serbia,
Switzerland and Ukraine (* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in
line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence);
2
( ) UNPD estimate, medium fertility scenario
Sources: Eurostat (online data code: demo_pjan and proj_13ndbims) and United Nations
Population Division
Life expectancy at birth
(years)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2005
2010
2014
2005
EU-28 (1)
2010
2015
Africa (2)
(1) EU-28: 2014 instead of 2015
(2) Africa: estimated
Sources: Eurostat (online data code: demo_mlexpec) and the Statistics Division of the African
Union Commission
Inflation rate
(% annual growth)
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Africa
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
EU-28
Sources: Eurostat (online data code: prc_hicp_aind) and the Statistics Division of the African Union
Commission
GDP per capita at current prices, top 10 EU Member States and
top 10 African countries, 2015
(Euro)
0
20 000
40 000
60 000
80 000
100 000
EU-28
Luxembourg
Ireland
Denmark
Sweden
Netherlands
United Kingdom
Austria
Finland
Germany
Belgium
Africa
Equatorial Guinea
Seychelles
Mauritius
Gabon
Botswana
South Africa
Libya
Namibia
Algeria
Angola
Sources: Eurostat (online data code: nama_10_pc) and the Statistics Division of the African Union
Commission
GDP growth rates at constant prices, top 10 EU Member
States and top 10 African countries, 2015
(%)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Africa
Ethiopia
Liberia
Côte d'Ivoire
Congo, Dem. Rep.
Tanzania
Rwanda
Seychelles
Djibouti
Chad
Senegal
EU-28
Ireland (1)
Malta
Luxembourg
Czech Republic
Sweden
Romania
Slovakia
Poland
Spain
Hungary
(1) The Irish GDP for 2015 has been revised upwards. The high GDP growth rate from 2014 to 2015
is to a large extent caused by this revision.
Sources: Eurostat (online data code: tec00115) and the Statistics Division of the African Union
Commission
EU-28 imports of goods from Africa by main partners, 2015
(%)
Algeria
16 %
Other
22 %
South
Africa
15 %
Egypt
5%
Libya
6%
Angola
6%
Nigeria
14 %
Tunisia
7%
Morocco
9%
Source: Eurostat (online data code: DS-018995)
EU-28 exports of goods to Africa by main partners, 2015
(%)
South
Africa
17 %
Other
30 %
Algeria
14 %
Nigeria
7%
Tunisia
7%
Egypt
13 %
Morocco
12 %
Source: Eurostat (online data code: DS-018995)
EU-28 trade in goods with Africa, 2015
(billion EUR)
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
-25
-50
2006
2007
2008
2009
EU-28 exports to Africa
2010
2011
EU-28 imports from Africa
2012
2013
2014
2015
EU-28 trade balance with Africa
Source: Eurostat (online data code: DS-018995)
EU-28 trade in goods with Africa, by SITC section, 2015
(billion EUR)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Food and live
animals
Beverages and Crude materials,
tobacco
except fuels
Energy
products
Oils, fats and
waxes
EU-28 exports to Africa
Source: Eurostat (online data code: DS-018995)
Chemicals
Manuf'd goods Machinery and Miscellaneous
classified by
vehicles
manufactured
articles
EU-28 imports from Africa
Products not
classified
elsewhere
Mobile communication subscriptions, top 20 EU Member
States and African countries, 2014
(subscriptions per thousand inhabitants)
0
250
500
750 1 000 1 250 1 500 1 750 2 000 2 250
Sweden
Latvia
Finland
Gabon
Botswana
Seychelles
Denmark
Libya
Bulgaria
Italy
Portugal
Austria
Lithuania
South Africa
Mali
Estonia
Luxembourg
United Kingdom
Poland
Germany
EU-28
Africa (1)
(1) Estimated
Sources: DG CONNECT’s Digital Agenda Scoreboard and the Statistics Division of the African Union
Commission
For more information on European statistics, please go to the Eurostat
website:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
For more information on quality in statistics, see:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/quality/overview
PDF: KS-01-15-770-EN-N
Print: KS-01-15-770-EN-C
Eurostat cooperation resources
For information on Eurostat’s statistical cooperation activities:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/international-statisticalcooperation/overview
E-mail: [email protected]
The European Union and the African Union
A statistical portrait
2016 edition (Statistical Book with more detailed data )
Guide to statistics in European Commission
development cooperation
2013 edition
ISSN 2315-0815
Essential SNA: Building the basics
Essential SNA:
Building the basics
2014 edition
2014 edition
We can do better if we know better!
Statistics for development
2016 edition
Building better statistics
Eurostat’s tools for statistical capacity building
Compact guides
Snapshot
A user-friendly tool to assess the
strengths and weaknesses of
National Statistical Systems
Snapshot
A user-friendly tool to assess National Statistical Systems
See ‘Statistics explained’ for further insight into Eurostat’s international
cooperation activities:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/NonEU_countries
See also
African Union Commission – Statistics Division:
http://www.au.int
PDF: ISBN 978-92-79-52223-9 doi:10.2785/564680
Print: ISBN 978-92-79-52222-2 doi:10.2785/540633
© European Union, 2016
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