Ethiopia

federal parliamentary republic

name: Addis Ababa geographic coordinates: 9 02 N, 38 42 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) etymology: the name in Amharic means "new flower;" Empress TAITU gave the name to the new capital city in 1887

chief of state: President TAYE Atske Selassie (since 7 October 2024) head of government: Prime Minister ABIY Ahmed Ali (since April 2018) cabinet: Council of Ministers selected by the prime minister and approved by the House of People's Representatives election/appointment process: president indirectly elected by both chambers of Parliament for a 6-year term (eligible for a second term); prime minister designated by the majority party following legislative elections most recent election date: 21 June 2021 and 30 September 2021 (scheduled 29 August 2020 election was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic) election results: 2021: SAHLE-WORK Zewde reelected president during joint session of Parliament, vote - 659 (unanimous); ABIY confirmed Prime Minister by House of Peoples' Representatives (4 October 2021)

legislative structure: bicameral note: the House of Federation is responsible for interpreting the constitution and federal-regional issues, and the House of People's Representatives is responsible for passing legislation

highest court(s): Federal Supreme Court (consists of 11 judges) judge selection and term of office: president and vice president of Federal Supreme Court recommended by the prime minister and appointed by the House of People's Representatives; other Supreme Court judges nominated by the Federal Judicial Administrative Council (a 10-member body chaired by the president of the Federal Supreme Court) and appointed by the House of People's Representatives; judges serve until retirement at age 60 subordinate courts: federal high courts and federal courts of first instance; state court systems (mirror structure of federal system); sharia courts and customary and traditional courts note: the House of Federation has jurisdiction for all constitutional issues

history: several previous; latest drafted June 1994, adopted 8 December 1994, entered into force 21 August 1995 amendment process: proposals submitted for discussion require two-thirds majority approval in either house of Parliament or majority approval of one-third of the State Councils; passage of amendments other than constitutional articles on fundamental rights and freedoms and the initiation and amendment of the constitution requires two-thirds majority vote in a joint session of Parliament and majority vote by two thirds of the State Councils; passage of amendments affecting rights and freedoms and amendment procedures requires two-thirds majority vote in each house of Parliament and majority vote by all the State Councils

ACP, AfDB, ATMIS, AU, BRICS, COMESA, EITI, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (accession candidate)

0.7% of GDP (2024 est.) 1% of GDP (2023 est.) 1.7% of GDP (2022 est.) 0.5% of GDP (2021 est.) 0.5% of GDP (2020 est.)

Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF; aka Federal Defense Force of Ethiopia, FDRE): Army, Air Force, Naval Force, Defense Cyber Main Directorate (2025) note 1: national and regional police forces are responsible for law enforcement and maintenance of order, with the ENDF sometimes providing internal security support; the Ethiopian Federal Police (EFP) report to the Prime Minister s Office note 2: the regional governments control regional security forces, including "special" paramilitary forces, which generally operate independently from the federal government and in some cases operate as regional defense forces maintaining national borders; in April 2023, the federal government ordered the integration of these regional special forces into the EFP or ENDF; in some cases, the regional governments have maintained former members of the special forces for crowd control/Adma Bitena as a separate unit within their security structures; local militias also operate across the country in loose and varying coordination with regional security and police forces, the ENDF, and the EFP note 3: in 2018, Ethiopia established a Republican Guard military unit as a separate command operationally under the Office of the Prime Minister and administratively accountable to the Ministry of Defense; it is responsible for protecting senior officials and government institutions and conducting some military operations

18-22 years of age for voluntary military service; 24-month service obligation; no compulsory military service, but the military can conduct callups when necessary and compliance is compulsory (2025)

the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) is focused on both external threats emanating from its neighbors and internal threats from multiple internal armed groups; since 1998, the ENDF has engaged in several conventional and counterinsurgency operations, including border wars with Eritrea (1998-2000) and Somalia (2006-2008) and internal conflicts with the Tigray regional state (2020-2022), multiple insurgent groups and ethnic militias, and the al-Shabaab terrorist group; as of 2025, the ENDF was actively conducting counterinsurgency operations against anti-government militants in several states, including the Amhara militia Fano and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), as well as al-Shabaab in Somalia (2025)

1,500 South Sudan (UNMISS); estimated to have as many as 10,000 troops Somalia (approximately 2,500 under the AU; the remainder under a bilateral agreement with the Somali Government) (2025)

$380.895 billion (2024 est.) $354.926 billion (2023 est.) $332.97 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

$2,900 (2024 est.) $2,800 (2023 est.) $2,700 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

7.3% (2024 est.) 6.6% (2023 est.) 5.3% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

21% (2024 est.) 30.2% (2023 est.) 33.9% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

31.4% of GDP (2019 est.) note: central government debt as a % of GDP

$10.865 billion (2023 est.) $10.971 billion (2022 est.) $9.496 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

$22.951 billion (2023 est.) $24.187 billion (2022 est.) $20.859 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

3.4% (2024 est.) 3.5% (2023 est.) 3.5% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

revenues: $8.808 billion (2023 est.) expenditures: $12.49 billion (2023 est.) note: central government revenues and expenses (excluding grants/extrabudgetary units/social security funds) converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated

food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, garments, chemicals, metals processing, cement

maize, cereals, wheat, milk, sorghum, barley, taro, beans, sweet potatoes, potatoes (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

total: 121,372,632 (2025 est.) male: 60,461,406 female: 60,911,226

2.34% (2025 est.)

0-14 years: 38.7% (male 23,092,496/female 22,765,882) 15-64 years: 58% (male 34,175,328/female 34,536,238) 65 years and over: 3.4% (2024 est.) (male 1,794,269/female 2,186,085)

29.08 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

5.58 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

-0.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

total population: 67.7 years (2024 est.) male: 65.4 years female: 70 years

urban population: 23.2% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 4.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Oromo 35.8%, Amhara 24.1%, Somali 7.2%, Tigray 5.7%, Sidama 4.1%, Guragie 2.6%, Welaita 2.3%, Afar 2.2%, Silte 1.3%, Kefficho 1.2%, other 13.5% (2022 est.)

Oromo (official regional working language) 33.8%, Amharic (official national language) 29.3%, Somali (official regional working language) 6.2%, Tigrigna (Tigrinya) (official regional working language) 5.9%, Sidamo 4%, Wolaytta 2.2%, Gurage 2%, Afar (official regional working language) 1.7%, Hadiyya 1.7%, Gamo 1.5%, Gedeo 1.3%, Opuuo 1.2%, Kafa 1.1%, other 8.1%, English (2007 est.) major-language sample(s): Kitaaba Addunyaa Waan Qabataamaatiif - Kan Madda Odeeffannoo bu uraawaatiif baay ee barbaachisaa ta e. (Oromo) የአለም እውነታ መጽሐፍ፣ ለመሠረታዊ መረጃ እጅግ አስፈላጊ የሆነ ምንጭ። (Amharic) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Ethiopian Orthodox 43.8%, Muslim 31.3%, Protestant 22.8%, Catholic 0.7%, traditional 0.6%, other 0.8% (2016 est.)

total population: 60.5% (2022 est.) male: 71% (2022 est.) female: 50% (2022 est.)

small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower

al-Shabaab note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide

refugees: 1,071,881 (2024 est.) IDPs: 3,134,600 (2024 est.)

58 (2025)

total: 659 km (2017) (Ethiopian segment of the 756 km Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad) standard gauge: 659 km (2017) 1.435-m gauge note: electric railway with redundant power supplies; under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia and managed by a Chinese contractor

total: 12 (2023) by type: general cargo 10, oil tanker 2

total subscriptions: 85.9 million (2024 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 65 (2024 est.)

percent of population: 17% (2021 est.)