Economy - overview:
At independence in November 1991, Macedonia was the least developed
of the Yugoslav republics, producing a mere 5% of the total federal
output of goods and services. The collapse of Yugoslavia ended
transfer payments from the center and eliminated advantages from
inclusion in a de facto free trade area. An absence of
infrastructure, UN sanctions on Yugoslavia, one of its largest
markets, and a Greek economic embargo over a dispute about the
country's constitutional name and flag hindered economic growth
until 1996. GDP subsequently rose each year through 2000. However,
the leadership's commitment to economic reform, free trade, and
regional integration was undermined by the ethnic Albanian
insurgency of 2001. The economy shrank 4.5% because of decreased
trade, intermittent border closures, increased deficit spending on
security needs, and investor uncertainty. Growth barely recovered in
2002 to 0.3%, then rose to 2.8% in 2003. Unemployment at one-third
of the workforce remains the most critical economic problem. But
even this issue is overshadowed by the fragile political situation.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $10.57 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
0.7% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $5,100 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 11%
industry: 31%
services: 58% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
24% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.1% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
1.1 million (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate:
37% (2002 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $1.13 billion
expenditures: $1.02 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(2001 est.)
Industries:
coal, metallic chromium, lead, zinc, ferronickel, textiles, wood
products, tobacco, food processing, buses
Industrial production growth rate:
-5% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
6.465 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 83.7%
hydro: 16.3%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
6.112 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
100 million kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
20,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
rice, tobacco, wheat, corn, millet, cotton, sesame, mulberry
leaves, citrus, vegetables; beef, pork, poultry, mutton
Exports:
$1.1 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
food, beverages, tobacco; miscellaneous manufactures, iron and steel
Exports - partners:
Germany 19.2%, Italy 9.2%, US 6.7%, Croatia 5.5%, Greece 4.6% (2002)
Imports:
$1.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; food products
Imports - partners:
Greece 19.4%, Germany 14.4%, Bulgaria 7.5%, Slovenia 6.9%, Italy
6.9%, Turkey 5.9%, Ukraine 5%, Austria 4.1% (2002)
Debt - external:
$1.3 billion (2001 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$150 million (2001 est.)
Currency:
Macedonian denar (MKD)
Currency code:
MKD
Exchange rates:
Macedonian denars per US dollar - 64.35 (2002), 68.04 (2001), 65.9
(2000), 56.9 (1999), 54.46 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year