Economy - overview:
Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production, but has been harmed by periodic declines in oil prices. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to substantial foreign debt relief and restructuring. International donors, meeting in Paris in October 2002, agreed on a further $2.3 billion economic support package. Yemen has worked to maintain tight control over spending and implement additional components of the IMF program. A high population growth rate and internal political dissension complicate the government's task.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $15.7 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $840 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 22%
industry: 38%
services: 40% (2001)
Population below poverty line:
NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25.9% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
33.4 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
12.2% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
NA
Labor force - by occupation:
most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force
Unemployment rate:
30% (1995 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $3 billion
expenditures: $3.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Industries:
crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement
Industrial production growth rate:
4% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
3.01 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
2.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
438,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
74,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
3.2 billion bbl (January 2002 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
480 billion cu m (January 2002 est.)
Agriculture - products:
grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish
Exports:
$3.4 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish
Exports - partners:
India 19.2%, Thailand 17.3%, China 11.6%, South Korea 11.2%, US 6.0% (2001)
Imports:
$2.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners:
Saudi Arabia 11.3%, UAE 8.2%, China 7.6%, US 6.7%, France 5.5% (2001)
Debt - external:
$6.2 billion (2002)
Economic aid - recipient:
$2.3 billion to be disbursed 2003-07
Currency:
Yemeni rial (YER)
Currency code:
YER
Exchange rates:
Yemeni rials per US dollar - NA (2002), 168.672 (2001), 161.718 (2000), 155.718 (1999), 135.882 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
NOTE: The information regarding Yemen 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 Yemen Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
