Economy - overview:
At independence in September 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 0.9%, then rose to 2.8% in 2003. Unemployment at one-third of the workforce remains the most critical economic problem. The gray economy is estimated at around 40% of GDP. Politically, the country is more stable than in 2002.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $13.81 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.8% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 9.9%
industry: 25.3%
services: 64.8% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line:
30.2% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.2% (2003 est.)
Labor force:
860,000 (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate:
36.7% (2003 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $1.03 billion
expenditures: $1.05 billion, including capital expenditures of $80 million $NA (2003 est.)
Industries:
coal, metallic chromium, lead, zinc, ferronickel, textiles, wood products, tobacco, food processing, buses, steel
Industrial production growth rate:
3% (2003 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
Oil - imports:
NA
Agriculture - products:
rice, tobacco, wheat, corn, millet, cotton, sesame, mulberry leaves, citrus, vegetables; beef, pork, poultry, mutton
Exports:
$1.346 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities:
food, beverages, tobacco; miscellaneous manufactures, iron and steel
Exports - partners:
Germany 27.4%, Italy 13.2%, US 9.5%, Croatia 7.9%, Greece 6.6%, Netherlands 5.6% (2002)
Imports:
$2.184 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; food products
Imports - partners:
Greece 18.2%, Germany 13.6%, Yugoslavia 8.6%, Slovenia 8.4%, Bulgaria 7%, Italy 6.4%, Turkey 5.6% (2002)
Debt - external:
$1.7 billion (2003 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$250 million (2003 est.)
Currency:
Macedonian denar (MKD)
Currency code:
MKD
Exchange rates:
Macedonian denars per US dollar - NA (2003), 64.35 (2002), 68.04 (2001), 65.9 (2000), 56.9 (1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
