Tajikistan Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
Tajikistan has one of the lowest per capita GDPs 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 - $7.95 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
10.5% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 23.7%
industry: 24.3%
services: 52% (2004 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.)

Population below poverty line:
60% (2004 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):
8% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
22% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $311.2 million
expenditures: $321.5 million, including capital expenditures of $86 million (2004 est.)

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

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

Industrial production growth rate:
8.2% (2002 est.)

Electricity - production:
15.08 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
14.41 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
3.974 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
4.359 billion kWh (2002)

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.)

Current account balance:
$-52 million (2004 est.)

Exports:
$1.13 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

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

Exports - partners:
Latvia 13.1%, Switzerland 11.5%, Uzbekistan 11.3%, Norway 9.9%, Russia 8.2%, Iran 7.9%, Turkey 7.7%, Italy 6.6%, Hungary 4.4% (2004)

Imports:
$1.3 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

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

Imports - partners:
Russia 17.8%, Uzbekistan 13.4%, Kazakhstan 9.7%, Ukraine 6.3%, Azerbaijan 6.3%, US 5.8%, Turkey 4.3% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$145.3 million (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$888 million (2004 est.)

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

Currency (code):
somoni

Exchange rates:
Tajikistani somoni per US dollar - 2.9705 (2004), 3.0614 (2003), 2.7641 (2002), 2.3722 (2001), 2.0763 (2000)
note: the new unit of exchange was introduced on 30 October 2000, with one somoni equal to 1,000 of the old Tajikistani rubles