Angola is an economy in disarray because of a quarter century of nearly continuous warfare. Despite its abundant natural resources, output per capita is among the world's lowest. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for 85% of the population. Oil production and the supporting activities are vital to the economy, contributing about 45% to GDP and 90% of exports. Violence continues, millions of land mines remain, and many farmers are reluctant to return to their fields. As a result, much of the country's food must still be imported. To fully take advantage of its rich resources - gold, diamonds, extensive forests, Atlantic fisheries, and large oil deposits - Angola will need to end its conflict and continue reforming government policies.

Angola’s economy grew in the late 1980s, averaging 11.3 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) between 1985 and 1988. The economy declined through the 1990s, however. In 1999 GDP was $8.5 billion, or about $690 per person. The total labor force was estimated at 5.7 million in 1999, of which 75 percent were engaged in agriculture.

The major exception to this dismal economic record has been the oil sector, which has made giant strides, boosting Angola to rank second as an oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa. Non-Portuguese foreign capital was exempted from outright nationalization, and, although the state took a share in the oil companies, management remained firmly in foreign hands. Moreover, the oil industry was protected from the worst effects of the fighting by its location on the coast and by the presence of Cuban troops. Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of Angola's foreign exchange earnings.