Swaziland Economy 2007

Economy - overview:
In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 80% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners. 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. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union and worker remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. 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 2004-05 because of drought, and nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$6.018 billion (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$2.214 billion (2006 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
2.1% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$5,300 (2006 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 11.9%
industry: 46.1%
services: 41.9% (2006 est.)

Labor force:
300,000 (2006)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Unemployment rate:
40% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line:
69% (2006)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 40.7% (2001)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.7% (2006 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
17.1% of GDP (2006 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $977 million
expenditures: $1.034 billion (2006 est.)

Agriculture - products:
sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep

Industries:
coal, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel

Industrial production growth rate:
3.7% (FY95/96)

Electricity - production:
460 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
1.3 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
872 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2005)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption:
3,500 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day

Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006)

Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

Current account balance:
$-11 million (2006 est.)

Exports:
$2.088 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Exports - commodities:
soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit

Exports - partners:
South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2006)

Imports:
$2.197 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Imports - commodities:
motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals

Imports - partners:
South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9%, Singapore 0.3% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$46.03 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$372.5 million (2006 est.)

Debt - external:
$484 million (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$196.8 million (2005)

Currency (code):
lilangeni (SZL)

Exchange rates:
emalangeni per US dollar - 6.85 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002)