The economy of Botswana was formerly dependent on the export of live cattle and meat. Since the late 1960s the find and exploitation of mineral resources, notably diamonds, have assumed primary importance in export earnings. Income is also derived from the export of labor to South Africa. The around budget in 1997 included revenues of $2.2 billion and expenditures of $1.7 billion.

Botswana has maintained one of the world's highest growth rates since freedom in 1966. Through fiscal discipline and sound management, Botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income nation with a per capita GDP of $6,600 in 2000. Diamond mining has fueled much of Botswana's economic development and currently accounts for more than one-third of GDP and for three-fourths of export earnings. Tourism, subsistence farming, and cattle raising are other key sectors. The government must deal with high rates of unemployment and poverty. Unemployment officially is 19%, but unofficial estimates place it closer to 40%. HIV/AIDS infection rates are the highest in the world and threaten Botswana's impressive economic gains.

Botswana has a free market economy with a strong tradition of central government planning to offer infrastructure for private investment. The economy has grown rapidly since the mid-1960s, with the per capita gross domestic product increasing from less than $50 to more than $1,000 by the mid-1980s.