Country explorer: Angola
EXPERIMENTAL
2024
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Overview
Angola is a resource-rich, lower-middle-income country in Africa with a medium-sized population. Its economy has been volatile in recent decades, and is based on oil, mining and agriculture.
Angola is the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.
Economy
Angola has experienced significant fluctuations in economic indicators, with notable efforts towards recovery reflected in a gradually increasing GDP per capita despite facing challenges such as inflation and varied unemployment rates, common issues among its lower-middle-income peers but distinguished by its own unique pace and intensity of change.
Demographics
Like peers, Angola has experienced steady population growth, a gradual decline in fertility rates, and an increase in life expectancy, reflecting broader trends of societal development and health improvements in lower-middle-income countries. However, unlike its peers, Angola's fertility rate remains one of the highest in the world.
Basic needs
Angola has seen gradual improvements in basic needs, such as a steady increase in access to clean fuels for cooking and electricity, highlighting ongoing development efforts yet still reflecting a gap compared to countries like Brazil and Malaysia, illustrating its unique position of development amidst its peers.
Human development
Angola has seen modest improvements in human development, marked by gradual increases in the Human Development Index, reductions in child mortality, improvements in literacy rates, and gains in learning-adjusted years of schooling, indicating slow but steady progress in health, education, and living standards.
Environment & energy
Angola has experienced a notable decline in per capita CO₂ emissions including land-use change, a diversification in electricity production with an increase in renewables, a decrease in renewable freshwater resources per capita, and a reduction in forest area, reflective of broader environmental and energy shifts seen in various countries but underscored by unique local challenges and policies.
Technology & innovation
Angola has experienced a significant yet modest improvement in technological adoption and innovation, as evidenced by rising Internet usage, mobile phone subscriptions, and a gradual increase in scientific publications, although it remains behind compared to peers like Brazil, Malaysia, and South Africa, indicating a need for further investment in research and development.
Culture & society
Angola has witnessed subtle yet important societal transformations, evident in its moderate increase in the share of the population born abroad, a gradual improvement in gender equality though remaining high compared to some peers, fluctuating self-reported life satisfaction, and a stable but high age dependency ratio, common among lower-middle-income countries.
Governance
Angola has shown modest improvements in governance indicators, like slight increases in its rule of law and political civil liberties scores, while facing persistent challenges with corruption and press freedom, mirroring struggles common to lower-middle-income countries but with distinctive gradual progress in political reforms and governance.