81. Previous reports have detailed the basic constraints to economic developmentin Djibouti: a harsh arid environmeht which provides littre scope for agriculturalproduction and a conseguent dependence on eood importsl a poor naturar resourceendowment and thus no basis for significant industrial activityt an unusually highdegree of economic reliance on the tertiary sector associated with the high legreeof population concentration in the service oriented port city of Djibouti, limitedskilled and managerial human resourcesl continued dependence on external assistancefor budgetary and capital expendituresl and a relatively high population growthrate' especially when measured against resources. To the above must be added acontinuing probrem of refugees which further strains both the resource andadministrative capacity of the Government. Djibouti has been classified by theUnited Nations as a least developed country. 82' By the end of 1984, the serious slowing down of the Djibouti economy which hascharacterized recent performance appears to have come to a standstill. There hasbeen no further depletion of foreign reserves and the budget deficit has narrowed.Perhaps most important, recently there has been rain in nearly all parts of thecountry. There is now tangible evidence that the first g.ner"tion of developmentproqramme following the 1983 Donors Conference are getting off the ground. Howeverwelcome these improvements may be, they do not resolve the fundamental constraintsto development outlined above, or significantly reduce the vulnerability ofDjiboutirs extremely fragile economy, which remains highly dependent on externalfactors. There is an increased dependency on food aid. Finally, there hasrecently been a new influx of refugees, primarily drought victims from Ethiopia andsomalia' esti.mated at almost l5ro00 (or nearry 5 per cent of the ojiboutipopulation) .A/40/44L English Page 3I 1. Gross domestic Product 83. The lack of consistent and reliable serial data makes it difficult to establish overall trends in economic performance in Djiboutit accordingly, all of the figures cited below should be regarded as essentially indicative. The Government has estimated that gross domestic ptoduct at factor costs was 58.5 million Djibouti francs* (DF) in 1983 and 59.0 million DF in 1984, indicating a gross domestic product (GDP) grovrth rate of 0.6 per cent. 'l{hile this results in
**Analysis**
The text primarily discusses the challenges and constraints faced by Djibouti in achieving economic development, including its harsh environment, limited natural resources, and high dependence on external factors. It also touches on the impact of refugees on the country's economy and population. The text does not focus on specific sectors such as agriculture, industry, or transport, but rather provides a general overview of the country's economic situation.

**Category**
Economic development, Humanitarian aid and relief