Overview: Burma is one of the poorest countries in Asia, with a per capita GDP of about $200. The government reports slightly higher growth for FY88 than for the previous year. The nation has been unable to achieve any significant improvement in export earnings because of falling prices for many of its major commodity exports. For rice, traditionally the most important export, the drop in world prices has been accompanied by shrinking markets and a smaller volume of sales. In 1985 teak replaced rice as the largest export and continues to hold this position. The economy is heavily dependent on the agricultural sector, which generates about 40% of GDP and provides employment for more than 65% of the work force.

GDP: $9.3 billion, per capita $230; real growth rate 2.2% (FY88)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 17.8% (FY88)

Unemployment rate: 10.4% in urban areas (1986-87)

Budget: revenues $1.1 billion; expenditures $2.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.2 billion (FY88 est.)

Exports: $322 million (f.o.b., FY88); @m5commodities--teak, rice, oilseed, metals, rubber, gems; @m5partners--US, Japan, EC, India, Africa

Imports: $629 million (c.i.f., FY88); @m5commodities--machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, food products; @m5partners--US, Japan, EEC, China, Thailand

External debt: $6.7 billion (December 1988)

Industrial production: growth rate 3.1% (FY88)

Electricity: 945,000 kW capacity; 2,900 million kWh produced, 75 kWh per capita (1988)

Industries: agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood products; petroleum refining; mining of copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer

Agriculture: paddy, beans, pulses, maize, oilseeds, sugarcane, peanuts; almost 100% self-sufficient; most rice grown in deltaic land; an illegal producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade

Aid: NA

Currency: kyat (plural--kyats); 1 kyat (K) = 100 pyas

Exchange rates: kyats (K) per US$1--6.4792 (January 1989), 6.3945 (1988), 6.6535 (1987), 7.3304 (1986), 8.4749 (1985)

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

NOTE: The information regarding Burma on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Burma Economy 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Burma Economy 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.