Economy - overview:
Sudan has turned around a struggling economy with sound economic
policies and infrastructure investments, but it still faces
formidable economic problems, notably the low level of per capita
output. From 1997 to date, Sudan has been implementing IMF
macroeconomic reforms. In 1999 Sudan began exporting crude oil and
in the last quarter of 1999 recorded its first trade surplus, which,
along with monetary policy, has stabilized the exchange rate.
Increased oil production, revived light industry, and expanded
export processing zones helped maintain GDP growth at 5.1% in 2002.
Agriculture production remains Sudan's most important sector,
employing 80% of the work force and contributing 43% of GDP, but
most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Chronic
domestic instability, lagging reforms, adverse weather, and weak
world agricultural prices - but, above all, the low starting point -
ensure that much of the population will remain at or below the
poverty line for years.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $52.9 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5.1% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,400 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 43%
industry: 17%
services: 40% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9.2% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
11 million (1996 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 7%, government 13% (1998
est.)
Unemployment rate:
18.7% (2002 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $1.6 billion
expenditures: $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(2001 est.)
Industries:
oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap
distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments,
automobile/light truck assembly
Industrial production growth rate:
8.5% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production:
2.389 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 52.1%
hydro: 47.9%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
2.222 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
209,100 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
50,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
631.5 million bbl (37257)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
99.11 billion cu m (37257)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic,
sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), mangos, papaya, bananas, sweet
potatoes, sesame; sheep, livestock
Exports:
$1.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
oil and petroleum products; cotton, sesame, livestock, groundnuts,
gum arabic, sugar
Exports - partners:
China 55.7%, Japan 14%, Saudi Arabia 4.9% (2002)
Imports:
$1.5 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, manufactured goods, refinery and transport equipment,
medicines and chemicals, textiles, wheat
Imports - partners:
China 19.7%, Saudi Arabia 7.4%, Germany 5.5%, India 5.5%, UK 5.4%,
Indonesia 4.7%, Australia 4% (2002)
Debt - external:
$15.8 billion (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$187 million (1997)
Currency:
Sudanese dinar (SDD)
Currency code:
SDD
Exchange rates:
Sudanese dinars per US dollar - 263.31 (2002), 258.7 (2001), 257.12
(2000), 252.55 (1999), 200.8 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year