**Table 2: Countries' descriptive statistics  - 1975-2005**

|||**G**|**DP per cap**|**ita**|||**GDP**|**per capita g**|**rowth**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Country**|**1975**|**2005**|**Average**<br>**annual**|**Standard**<br>**deviation**|**Coefficient**<br>**of variation**|**Average**<br>**annual**|**Standard**<br>**deviation**|**Min**|**Max**|**Coefficient**<br>**of variation**|
|Angola|..|2,169.5|1,973.7|242.3|0.123|1.66|13.50|-29.86|28.56|8.14|
|Benin|844.4|1,000.5|904.7|55.0|0.060|0.61|2.92|-6.88|6.47|4.80|
|Botswana|1,549.5|9,651.7|5,052.7|2,381.7|0.451|6.51|6.99|-4.62|18.27|1.07|
|Burkina Faso|781.7|1,092.9|927.1|83.2|0.086|1.17|3.26|-4.59|7.30|2.78|
|Burundi|691.0|584.2|728.9|95.1|0.132|-0.45|4.78|-8.88|9.17|-10.66|
|Cameroon|1,791.7|1,977.9|2,049.4|304.9|0.149|0.38|6.70|-11.32|26.19|17.42|
|Cape Verde|..|5,835.0|4,157.7|786.8|0.189|3.11|3.32|-1.44|12.71|1.07|
|<br>Central African Republic|1,553.9|1,023.8|1,270.7|190.4|0.148|-1.28|4.46|-10.16|6.35|-3.47|
|Chad|997.2|1,616.4|937.5|199.4|0.216|2.15|10.60|-22.54|29.72|4.93|
|Comoros|..|1,795.2|1,882.5|115.8|0.062|-0.16|3.18|-7.87|4.59|-20.32|
|Congo, Dem. Rep.|2,269.0|678.6|1,388.9|572.3|0.410|-3.78|5.60|-21.00|5.01|-1.48|
|Congo, Rep.|665.3|931.5|893.6|158.7|0.173|1.83|12.74|-22.99|49.80|6.96|
|Cote d'Ivoire|2,333.5|1,400.8|1,891.5|394.8|0.209|-1.57|4.73|-15.26|7.60|-3.01|
|Equatorial Guinea|..|..|4,094.3|5,433.5|1.327|22.52|40.80|-5.65|156.86|1.81|
|<br>Eritrea|..|907.1|965.2|120.3|0.125|2.20|9.21|-16.73|21.06|4.18|
|Ethiopia|..|896.4|782.5|72.1|0.092|0.43|7.78|-13.83|17.08|17.88|
|Gabon|8,546.4|5,839.4|6,732.9|1,192.6|0.175|-0.85|9.17|-22.89|30.20|-10.75|
|Gambia, The|1,601.6|1,780.6|1,696.2|88.2|0.052|0.53|5.94|-18.73|14.28|11.24|
|Ghana|1,818.4|2,148.9|1,711.4|196.5|0.116|0.63|3.75|-10.06|6.57|5.97|
|Guinea|..|2,040.0|1,894.3|99.2|0.052|0.62|1.97|-2.42|3.37|3.16|
|Guinea-Bissau|852.5|653.9|822.0|97.4|0.120|-0.49|8.59|-28.98|10.36|-17.71|
|Kenya|978.0|1,041.7|1,054.3|43.1|0.039|0.26|2.23|-4.11|4.91|8.58|
|Lesotho|720.6|2,472.2|1,447.6|591.8|0.399|4.51|8.43|-10.23|28.56|1.87|
|Madagascar|1,247.4|802.3|945.7|151.6|0.153|-1.36|4.49|-14.82|7.12|-3.30|
|Malawi|563.0|596.8|575.7|45.1|0.079|0.34|5.46|-9.40|14.83|16.19|
|Mali|736.6|930.3|764.9|86.9|0.115|0.87|5.80|-13.21|14.70|6.69|
|Mauritania|1,619.2|1,992.7|1,628.0|127.9|0.080|0.84|5.47|-13.22|11.74|6.52|
|Mauritius|..|11,141.2|7,335.3|2,249.9|0.307|4.10|1.51|1.30|6.91|0.37|
|Mozambique|..|1,219.9|751.6|195.5|0.260|2.56|7.58|-16.87|19.55|2.96|
|Namibia|..|6,979.6|6,377.0|718.9|0.113|-0.45|6.34|-12.21|13.51|-13.97|
|Niger|1,020.5|715.6|871.0|159.8|0.185|-1.03|5.47|-18.16|12.01|-5.34|
|Nigeria|921.9|1,057.9|870.7|95.4|0.111|0.65|6.18|-17.55|11.53|9.51|
|Rwanda|935.0|1,192.7|1,140.0|138.6|0.118|1.67|12.16|-47.14|36.31|7.27|
|Senegal|1,505.8|1,615.5|1,434.9|79.6|0.056|0.31|3.86|-5.45|12.23|12.64|
|Seychelles|7,354.6|14,865.8|12,428.0|3,227.5|0.250|2.65|7.66|-11.19|19.82|2.89|
|Sierra Leone|931.8|720.4|795.3|166.9|0.212|-0.52|8.19|-19.65|22.17|-15.62|
|South Africa|10,612.8|11,043.6|10,128.5|651.7|0.065|0.17|2.65|-4.57|5.46|15.89|
|Sudan|1,134.4|1,924.1|1,328.9|257.5|0.194|1.94|5.83|-9.26|12.70|3.01|
|Swaziland|3,470.5|4,595.3|3,805.8|587.8|0.156|1.11|6.11|-8.57|16.38|5.49|
|Tanzania|..|652.9|530.8|48.2|0.091|1.50|2.73|-2.61|5.04|1.81|
|Togo|1,783.6|1,410.9|1,594.8|199.1|0.125|-0.56|6.72|-16.70|15.74|-11.97|
|Uganda|..|1,363.4|1,034.4|192.8|0.186|1.91|3.17|-6.41|7.55|1.66|
|Zbi|13619|9300|10119|1974|0190|116|458|1211|861|395|
|ama|,.|.|,.|.|.|-.|.|-.|.|-.|
|Zimbabwe|2,742.7|1,832.1|2,521.5|268.7|0.107|-1.17|5.85|-10.52|9.90|-5.01|

Table 3 shows the decomposition of the SD of GDP per capita and its growth within and between countries. Variation of GDP per capita is mostly due to betweencountry variations, whereas the variation in growth is basically due to within-country variation. In short, the GDP per capita of individual countries is relatively stable, and the bulk of the variation in Africa’s average income per person occurs between countries. Growth in contrast is highly unstable in individual countries. The bottom line is a high growth variation around a stable GDP per capita mean; the ratio of within-country SD to total SD of growth is 94 percent, although it is only 31 percent for GDP per capita.

**Table 3: Decomposition of standard deviation of GDP per capita and growth - 1975-2005**

|**Variable**|**Mean**|**SD overall**|**SD between countries**|**SD within countries**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|GDPper capita|2,306|2,633|2,490|809|
|GDPper capitagrowth|0.71|6.32|2.26|5.95|

Notes: Statistics calculated from panel data.

9