Economy - overview:
Egypt improved its macroeconomic performance throughout most of the
last decade by following IMF advice on fiscal, monetary, and
structural reform policies. As a result, Egypt managed to tame
inflation, slash budget deficits, and attract more foreign
investment. In the past four years, however, the pace of reform has
slackened, and excessive spending on national infrastructure
projects has widened budget deficits again. Lower foreign exchange
earnings since 1998 resulted in pressure on the Egyptian pound and
periodic dollar shortages. Monetary pressures have increased since
11 September 2001 because of declines in tourism and Suez Canal
tolls, and Egypt has devalued the pound several times in the past
year. The development of a gas export market is a major bright spot
for future growth prospects. In the short term, regional tensions
will continue to affect tourism and hold back prospects for economic
expansion.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $289.8 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3.2% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 17%
industry: 34%
services: 49% (2001)
Population below poverty line:
22.9% (FY 95/96 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4.4%
highest 10%: 25% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
28.9 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.3% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
20.6 million (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 29%, industry 22%, services 49% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate:
12% (2001 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $21.5 billion
expenditures: $26.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.9
billion (2001)
Industries:
textiles, food processing, tourism, chemicals, hydrocarbons,
construction, cement, metals
Industrial production growth rate:
2.2% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
75.23 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 81%
hydro: 19%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
69.96 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
816,900 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
562,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
3.308 billion bbl (37257)
Natural gas - production:
21.2 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
21.2 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
1.264 trillion cu m (37257)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruits, vegetables; cattle, water
buffalo, sheep, goats
Exports:
$7 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
crude oil and petroleum products, cotton, textiles, metal products,
chemicals
Exports - partners:
US 18.3%, Italy 13.7%, UK 8.4% (2002)
Imports:
$15.2 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, wood products, fuels
Imports - partners:
US 16.9%, Germany 7.9%, Italy 6.7%, France 6.5%, China 5%, UK 4.1%
(2002)
Debt - external:
$30.5 billion (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA, $2.25 billion (1999)
Currency:
Egyptian pound (EGP)
Currency code:
EGP
Exchange rates:
Egyptian pounds per US dollar - 4.5 (2002), 3.97 (2001), 3.47
(2000), 3.4 (1999), 3.39 (1998)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June