Tajikistan Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
Tajikistan has the lowest per capita GDP among the 15 former Soviet republics. Only 5% to 6% of the land area is arable. Cotton is the most important crop. Mineral resources, varied but limited in amount, include silver, gold, uranium, and tungsten. Industry consists only of a large aluminum plant, hydropower facilities, and small obsolete factories mostly in light industry and food processing. The civil war (1992-97) severely damaged the already weak economic infrastructure and caused a sharp decline in industrial and agricultural production. Even though 60% of its people continue to live in abject poverty, Tajikistan has experienced steady economic growth since 1997. Continued privatization of medium and large state-owned enterprises will further increase productivity. Tajikistan's economic situation, however, remains fragile due to uneven implementation of structural reforms, weak governance, widespread unemployment, and the external debt burden. A debt restructuring agreement was reached with Russia in December 2002, including an interest rate of 4%, a 3-year grace period, and a US $49.8 million credit to the Central Bank of Tajikistan.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $6.996 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
9.9% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 19%
industry: 26%
services: 55% (2002 est.)

Population below poverty line:
60% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
34.7 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
16% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
3.187 million (2000)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 67.2%, industry 7.5%, services 25.3% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate:
40% (2002 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $502 million
expenditures: $520 million, including capital expenditures of $86 million (2002 est.)

Industries:
aluminum, zinc, lead, chemicals and fertilizers, cement, vegetable oil, metal-cutting machine tools, refrigerators and freezers

Industrial production growth rate:
10.3% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:
14.18 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 1.9%
hydro: 98.1%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
14.52 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
3.909 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
5.242 billion kWh (2001)

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

Oil - consumption:
20,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Natural gas - production:
50 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
1.3 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
1.25 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Agriculture - products:
cotton, grain, fruits, grapes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats

Exports:
$750 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
aluminum, electricity, cotton, fruits, vegetable oil, textiles

Exports - partners:
Netherlands 29.4%, Turkey 16.1%, Russia 11.9%, Uzbekistan 9.9%, Switzerland 9.4%, Hungary 5.4%, Latvia 4.2% (2002)

Imports:
$890 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
electricity, petroleum products, aluminum oxide, machinery and equipment, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
Russia 23.1%, Uzbekistan 18.6%, Ukraine 11.4%, Kazakhstan 10.1%, Turkmenistan 6.6%, Azerbaijan 5.8%, India 4.5% (2002)

Debt - external:
$1 billion (2002 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$60.7 million from US (2001)

Currency:
somoni

Currency code:
TJS

Exchange rates:
Tajikistani somoni per US dollar - 3.06 (2003), 2.76 (2002), 2.37 (2001), 2.08 (2000), 1.24 (1999)
note: the new unit of exchange was introduced on 30 October 2000, with one somoni equal to 1,000 of the old Tajikistani rubles