Short facts about the economy in Iran
| Economy -
overview: |
Iran's economy is a mixture of central
planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village
agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. President
KHATAMI has continued to follow the market reform plans of former President
RAFSANJANI and has indicated that he will pursue diversification of Iran's
oil-reliant economy although he has made little progress toward that goal. The
strong oil market in 1996 helped ease financial pressures on Iran and allowed
for Tehran's timely debt service payments. Iran's financial situation tightened
in 1997 and deteriorated further in 1998 because of lower oil prices. The
subsequent zoom in oil prices in 1999-2000 afforded Iran fiscal breathing room
but does not solve Iran's structural economic problems, including the
encouragement of foreign investment. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $413 billion
(2000 est.) |
| GDP - real
growth rate: |
3% (2000
est.) |
| GDP - per
capita: |
purchasing power parity - $6,300 (2000
est.) |
| GDP -
composition by sector: |
agriculture: 24%
industry: 28%
services: 48% (2000
est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
53% (1996
est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%:
NA% |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
16% (2000
est.) |
| Labor
force: |
17.3 million
note:
shortage of skilled labor (1998) |
| Labor force
- by occupation: |
agriculture 33%, industry 25%, services
42% (1999 est.) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
14% (1999
est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $27 billion
expenditures: $27 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1999) |
| Industries: |
petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles,
cement and other construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar
refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating,
armaments |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
4.4% (nonoil)
(1999) |
| Electricity
- production: |
103.054 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 93.16%
hydro: 6.84%
nuclear:
0%
other: 0% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
95.84 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
0 kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
0 kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets,
fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool;
caviar |
| Exports: |
$25 billion (f.o.b., 2000
est.) |
| Exports -
commodities: |
petroleum 85%, carpets, fruits and
nuts, iron and steel, chemicals |
| Exports -
partners: |
Japan, Italy, UAE, South Korea, France,
China |
| Imports: |
$15 billion (f.o.b., 2000
est.) |
| Imports -
commodities: |
industrial raw materials and
intermediate goods, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods,
technical services, military supplies |
| Imports -
partners: |
Germany, South Korea, Italy, UAE,
France, Japan |
| Debt -
external: |
$7.5 billion (2000
est.) |
| Economic aid
- recipient: |
$116.5 million
(1995) |
| Currency: |
Iranian rial
(IRR) |
| Exchange
rates: |
Iranian rials per US dollar - 1,754.71
(January 2001), 1,764.43 (2000), 1,725.93 (1999), 1,751.86 (1998), 1,752.92
(1997), 1,750.76 (1996)
note: Iran has three officially
recognized exchange rates; the averages for 1999 are as follows: the official
floating rate of 1,750 rials per US dollar, the "export" rate of 3,000 rials per
US dollar, and the variable Tehran Stock Exchange rate, which averages 7,863
rials per US dollar; the market rate averages 8,615 rials per US
dollar |
| Fiscal
year: |
21 March - 20 March | Source: World Factbook |
