Burma Economy 2001

Economy - overview: Burma has a mixed economy with private activity dominant in agriculture, light industry, and transport, and with substantial state-controlled activity, mainly in energy, heavy industry, and the rice trade. Government policy in the 1990s has aimed at revitalizing the economy after three decades of tight central planning. Private activity markedly increased in the early to mid-1990s, but began to decline in the past several years due to frustrations with the unfriendly business environment and political pressure from western nations. Published estimates of Burma's foreign trade are greatly understated because of the volume of black-market, illicit, and border trade. A major ongoing problem is the failure to achieve monetary and fiscal stability. Burma remains a poor Asian country and living standards for the majority have not improved over the past decade. Short-term growth will continue to be restrained because of poor government planning and minimal foreign investment.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $63.7 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.9% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 42%
industry: 17%
services: 41% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 23% (1997 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 32.4% (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 18% (1999)

Labor force: 19.7 million (FY98/99 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 65%, industry 10%, services 25% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 7.1% (official FY97/98 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $7.9 billion
expenditures: $12.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion (FY96/97)

Industries: agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 4.813 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 68.56%
hydro: 31.44%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 4.476 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: paddy rice, corn, oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; hardwood

Exports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1999)

Exports - commodities: apparel 36%, foodstuffs 22%, wood products 21%, precious stones 5% (1999)

Exports - partners: India 13%, Singapore 11%, China 11%, US 8% (1999 est.)
note: official trade statistics do not include trade in illicit goods - such as narcotics, teak, and gems - or the largely unrecorded border trade with China and Thailand

Imports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1999)

Imports - commodities: machinery, transport equipment, construction materials, food products

Imports - partners: Singapore 28%, Thailand 12%, China 10%, Japan 10%, South Korea 9% (1999 est.)

Debt - external: $6 billion (FY99/00 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $99 million (FY98/99)

Currency: kyat (MMK)

Currency code: MMK

Exchange rates: kyats per US dollar - official rate - 6.5972 (January 2001), 6.5167 (2000), 6.2858 (1999), 6.3432 (1998), 6.2418 (1997), 5.9176 (1996); kyats per US dollar - black market exchange rate - 435 (yearend 2000)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

NOTE: The information regarding Burma on this page is re-published from the 2001 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Burma Economy 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Burma Economy 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.