Senegal Country Brief

With a population of about 17 million inhabitants, the country is the 23rd most populous nation in the continent. French is the official language and Wolof is the national language. Other languages also are spoken are Fula and Serer.  The decomposition of aggregate output shows that the services industry is the main contributor accounting for about 55 percent of GDP, followed by industry which accounts for 19 percent and agriculture accounts for 15 percent. Despite its relatively low contribution to GDP, agriculture employs more than 70 percent of the labor force.  This country brief provides an overview of the political and economic environment. It also analyses the debt profile of the country, considering the shift in the composition of its external debt towards private sector and bond holders.