Economy - overview:
Syria's predominantly statist economy has been growing, on average, more slowly than its 2.4% annual population growth rate, causing a persistent decline in per capita GDP. Recent legislation allows private banks to operate in Syria, although a private banking sector will take years and further government cooperation to develop. External factors such as the international war on terrorism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the war between the US-led coalition and Iraq probably will drive real annual GDP growth levels back below their 3.5% spike in 2002. A long-run economic constraint is the pressure on water supplies caused by rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and increased water pollution.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $59.4 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3.5% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,500 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 27%
industry: 23%
services: 50% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line:
15%-25%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
0.9% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
5.2 million (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture, industry, services NA (2002)
Unemployment rate:
20% (2002 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $6 billion
expenditures: $7 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.6 billion (2002 est.)
Industries:
petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production:
23.26 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 57.6%
hydro: 42.4%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
21.63 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
522,700 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
265,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
2.4 billion bbl (January 2002 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
240.7 billion cu m (January 2002 est.)
Agriculture - products:
wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas, olives, sugar beets; beef, mutton, eggs, poultry, milk
Exports:
$6.2 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
crude oil 70%, petroleum products 7%, fruits and vegetables 5%, cotton fiber 4%, clothing 3%, meat and live animals 2% (2000 est.)
Exports - partners:
Germany 19%, Italy 16%, France 12%, Turkey 7%, Lebanon 5%, Spain 4%, Austria 3%, Saudi Arabia 3%, Iraq (2001)
Imports:
$4.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and transport equipment 21%, food and livestock 18%, metal and metal products 15%, chemicals and chemical products 10% (2000 est.)
Imports - partners:
Italy 8%, Germany 7%, France 6%, Lebanon 5%, South Korea 5%, Turkey 5%, China 4%, US 4%, Japan 3% (2001 est.)
Debt - external:
$22 billion (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$199 million (1997 est.)
Currency:
Syrian pound (SYP)
Currency code:
SYP
Exchange rates:
Syrian pounds per US dollar - (Official rate): 11.225 (2002), 11.225 (2001), 11.225 (2000), 11.225 (1999), 11.225 (1998), (Free market rate): 49.65 (2001), 49.4 (2000), 51.7 (1999), 52 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
NOTE: The information regarding Syria on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Syria Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
