- Economy Overview: The PDRY is one of the poorest Arab countries, with a per capita GNP of about $500. A shortage of natural resources, a widely dispersed population, and an arid climate make economic development difficult. The economy has grown at an average annual rate of only 2-3% since the mid-1970s. The economy is organized along socialist lines, dominated by the public sector. Economic growth has been constrained by a lack of incentives, partly stemming from centralized control over production decisions, investment allocation, and import choices.
GNP: $1.2 billion, per capita $495; real growth rate 5.2% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.8% (1987)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $429 million; expenditures $976 million, including capital expenditures of $402 million (1988 est.)
Exports: $82.2 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities—cotton, hides, skins, dried and salted fish; partners—Japan, YAR, Singapore
Imports: $598.0 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities—grain, consumer goods, crude oil, machinery, chemicals; partners—USSR, Australia, UK
External debt: $2.25 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 245,000 kW capacity; 600 million kWh produced, 240 kWh per capita (1989)