:Swaziland Economy
Overview:
The economy is based on subsistence agriculture, which occupies most of the
labor force and contributes nearly 25% to GDP. Manufacturing, which includes
a number of agroprocessing factories, accounts for another quarter of GDP.
Mining has declined in importance in recent years; high-grade iron ore
deposits were depleted in 1978, and health concerns cut world demand for
asbestos. Exports of sugar and forestry products are the main earners of
hard currency. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with
Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa, from which it
receives 75% of its imports and to which it sends about half of its exports.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $563 million, per capita $725; real growth rate
5.0% (1990 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
13% (1990)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $335.4 million; expenditures $360.5 million, including capital
expenditures of $NA (FY93 est.)
Exports:
$557 million (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, citrus, canned fruit
partners:
South Africa 50% (est.), EC, Canada
Imports:
$632 million (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, petroleum products,
foodstuffs, chemicals
partners:
South Africa 75% (est.), Japan, Belgium, UK
External debt:
$290 million (1990)
Industrial production:
growth rate NA; accounts for 26% of GDP (1989)
Electricity:
60,000 kW capacity; 155 million kWh produced, 180 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
mining (coal and asbestos), wood pulp, sugar
Agriculture:
accounts for 23% of GDP and over 60% of labor force; mostly subsistence
agriculture; cash crops - sugarcane, cotton, maize, tobacco, rice, citrus
fruit, pineapples; other crops and livestock - corn, sorghum, peanuts,
cattle, goats, sheep; not self-sufficient in grain
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $142 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $518 million
Currency:
lilangeni (plural - emalangeni); 1 lilangeni (E) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
emalangeni (E) per US$1 - 2.7814 (January 1992), 2.7563 (1991), 2.5863
(1990), 2.6166 (1989), 2.2611 (1988), 2.0350 (1987); note - the Swazi
emalangeni is at par with the South African rand
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
:Swaziland Communications
Railroads:
297 km (plus 71 km disused), 1.067-meter gauge, single track
Highways:
2,853 km total; 510 km paved, 1,230 km crushed stone, gravel, or stabilized
soil, and 1,113 km improved earth
Civil air:
4 major transport aircraft
Airports:
23 total, 21 usable; 1 with permanent-surfaced runways; none with runways
over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
system consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines and low-capacity
microwave links; 17,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 7 AM, 6 FM, 10 TV;
1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
:Swaziland Defense Forces
Branches:
Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force, Royal Swaziland Police Force
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 197,654; 114,204 fit for military service
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $11 million, about 2% of GNP (1989)
:Sweden Geography
Total area:
449,964 km2
Land area:
410,928 km2
Comparative area:
slightly smaller than California
Land boundaries:
2,205 km total; Finland 586 km, Norway 1,619 km
Coastline:
3,218 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf:
200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
12 nm
Disputes:
none
Climate:
temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy
summers; subarctic in north
Terrain:
mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west
Natural resources:
zinc, iron ore, lead, copper, silver, timber, uranium, hydropower potential
Land use:
arable land 7%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 2%; forest and
woodland 64%; other 27%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
water pollution; acid rain
Note:
strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas
:Sweden People
Population:
8,602,157 (July 1992), growth rate 0.4% (1992)
Birth rate:
13 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
11 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
2 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
6 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
75 years male, 81 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
1.9 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Swede(s); adjective - Swedish
Ethnic divisions:
homogeneous white population; small Lappish minority; foreign born or
first-generation immigrants (Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks,
Turks) about 12%
Religions:
Evangelical Lutheran 94%, Roman Catholic 1.5%, Pentecostal 1%, other 3.5%
(1987)
Languages:
Swedish, small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities; immigrants speak
native languages
Literacy:
99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1979 est.)
Labor force:
4,552,000 community, social and personal services 38.3%, mining and
manufacturing 21.2%, commerce, hotels, and restaurants 14.1%, banking,
insurance 9.0%, communications 7.2%, construction 7.0%, agriculture,
fishing, and forestry 3.2% (1991)
Organized labor:
80% of labor force (1990 est.)