Madagascar Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
Having discarded past socialist economic policies, Madagascar has since the mid 1990s followed a World Bank and IMF led policy of privatization and liberalization. This strategy has placed the country on a slow and steady growth path from an extremely low level. Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more than one-fourth of GDP and employing four-fifths of the population. Exports of apparel have boomed in recent years primarily due to duty-free access to the United States. Deforestation and erosion, aggravated by the use of firewood as the primary source of fuel are serious concerns. President RAVALOMANANA has worked aggressively to revive the economy following the 2002 political crisis, which triggered a 12% drop in GDP that year. Poverty reduction and combating corruption will be the centerpieces of economic policy for the next few years.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $13.02 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $800 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 27.4%
industry: 12.8%
services: 59.8% (2002 est.)

Population below poverty line:
71% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 29% (1999)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
38.1 (1999)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.5% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
7.3 million (2000)

Unemployment rate:
5.9% (1998)

Budget:
revenues: $459.8 million
expenditures: $798.9 million, including capital expenditures of $331 million (2001)

Industries:
meat processing, soap, breweries, tanneries, sugar, textiles, glassware, cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum, tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
3% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:
830.2 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 36.1%
hydro: 63.9%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
772.1 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
13,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2002)

Agriculture - products:
coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), beans, bananas, peanuts; livestock products

Exports:
$700 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
coffee, vanilla, shellfish, sugar; cotton cloth, chromite, petroleum products

Exports - partners:
France 39.2%, US 19.8%, Germany 5.5%, Japan 4.8%, Singapore 4.2% (2002)

Imports:
$920 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
capital goods, petroleum, consumer goods, food

Imports - partners:
France 37.9%, US 19.1%, Germany 5.3%, Japan 4.7%, Singapore 4.1% (2002)

Debt - external:
$4.6 billion (2002)

Economic aid - recipient:
$354 million (2001)

Currency:
Malagasy franc (MGF)

Currency code:
MGF

Exchange rates:
Malagasy francs per US dollar - 6,210 (2003), 6,831.96 (2002), 6,588.49 (2001), 6,767.48 (2000), 6,283.77 (1999)