Swaziland:
Economy

Pages for other countries and territories

Other pages in this profile of Swaziland:
Geography, People, Government, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.


Economy - overview	Definition In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies approximately 70% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners. In 2007, the sugar industry increased efficiency and diversification efforts, in response to a 17% decline in EU sugar prices. Mining has declined in importance in recent years with only coal and quarry stone mines remaining active. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives more than nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends 60% of its exports. Swaziland's currency is pegged to the South African rand, subsuming Swaziland's monetary policy to South Africa. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union, which may equal as much as 70% of government revenue this year, and worker remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically earned income. Swaziland is not poor enough to merit an IMF program; however, the country is struggling to reduce the size of the civil service and control costs at public enterprises. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. With an estimated 40% unemployment rate, Swaziland's need to increase the number and size of small and medium enterprises and attract foreign direct investment is acute. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2006-07 because of drought, and nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS.
GDP (purchasing power parity)	Definition - World rank and map $5.626 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)	Definition $2.936 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	Definition - World rank and map 2.4% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita	Definition - World rank and map $4,800 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	Definition agriculture: 11.8% industry: 45.7% services: 42.5% (2007 est.)
Labor force	Definition 300,000 (2006)
Labor force - by occupation	Definition agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%
Unemployment rate	Definition - World rank and map 40% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line	Definition 69% (2006)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	Definition lowest 10%: 1.6% highest 10%: 40.7% (2001)
Distribution of family income - Gini index	Definition - World rank and map 50.4 (2001)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	Definition - World rank and map 8.2% (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)	Definition - World rank and map 18.7% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget	Definition revenues: $1.13 billion expenditures: $1.143 billion (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	Definition sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep
Industries	Definition coal, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textiles and apparel
Industrial production growth rate	Definition - World rank and map 1.1% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production	Definition - World rank and map 460 million kWh (2007)
Electricity - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 1.2 billion kWh (2007)
Electricity - consumption per capita	Definition - World rank and map 1,063.1 kWh (2007)
Electricity - exports	Definition 0 kWh (2007)
Electricity - imports	Definition 872 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2007)
Oil - production	Definition - World rank and map 0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 3,500 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption per 1,000 people	Definition - World rank and map 3.1 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports	Definition - World rank and map 0 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports	Definition - World rank and map 3,530 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves	Definition - World rank and map 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption per capita	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance	Definition - World rank and map $36 million (2007 est.)
Exports	Definition - World rank and map $1.926 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities	Definition soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit
Exports - partners	Definition South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2006)
Imports	Definition - World rank and map $1.929 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities	Definition motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
Imports - partners	Definition South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	Definition - World rank and map $762.7 million (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external	Definition - World rank and map $524 million (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home	Definition $NA
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad	Definition $NA
Market value of publicly traded shares	Definition $196.8 million (2005)
Economic aid - recipient	Definition $46.03 million (2005)
Currency (code)	Definition lilangeni (SZL)
Exchange rates	Definition lilangeni per US dollar - 7.4 (2007), 6.85 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003)
Fiscal year	Definition 1 April - 31 March

Swaziland: Economy

Swaziland:
Economy