Economy - overview:
Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with almost one-third of its population living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for three-fourths of the population and accounting for about one-third of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural products, including pulses, jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. During the global recession of 2009, remittances from foreign workers abroad increased 47% to $2.8 billion while tourist arrivals only decreased 1% compared to the previous year. Nepal has considerable scope for exploiting its potential in hydropower, with an estimated 42,000 MW of feasible capacity, but political instability hampers foreign investment. Additional challenges to Nepal's growth include its technological backwardness, landlocked geographic location, civil strife and labor unrest, and its susceptibility to natural disaster.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$33.26 billion (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
$12.47 billion (2009 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4.7% (2009 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$1,200 (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 35%
industry:
16%
services:
49% (FY07 est.)
Labor force:
18 million
note:
severe lack of skilled labor (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 76%
industry:
6%
services:
18% (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate:
46% (2008 est.)
Population below poverty line:
24.7% (2004)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 6%
highest 10%:
40.6% (2006)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
47.2 (2008)
Budget:
revenues: $2.3 billion
expenditures:
$3.7 billion (FY08)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
13.2% (September 2009 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
6.5% (31 December 2008)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
NA% (31 December 2008)
Stock of money:
$2.106 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of quasi money:
$6.99 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of domestic credit:
$5.556 billion (31 December 2008)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$5.5 billion (31 December 2008)
Agriculture - products:
pulses, rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, jute, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat
Industries:
tourism, carpets, textiles; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarettes, cement and brick production
Industrial production growth rate:
1.8% (FY08)
Electricity - production:
2.6 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
2.243 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
213 million kWh (2008 est.)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption:
18,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports:
16,920 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
Current account balance:
$537 million (2009 est.)
Exports:
$907 million (2008 est.)
Exports - commodities:
clothing, pulses, carpets, textiles, juice, pashima, jute goods
Exports - partners:
India 59.2%, US 8.7%, Bangladesh 8.3%, Germany 4.3% (2008)
Imports:
$3.626 billion (2009 est.)
Imports - commodities:
petroleum products, machinery and equipment, gold, electrical goods, medicine
Imports - partners:
India 55.4%, China 13.3%, Singapore 2% (2008)
Debt - external:
$4.5 billion (2009 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$NA
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$NA
Exchange rates:
Nepalese rupees (NPR) per US dollar - 77.44 (2009), 65.21 (2008), 70.35 (2007), 72.446 (2006), 72.16 (2005)
NOTE: The information regarding Nepal on this page is re-published from the 2010 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Nepal Economy 2010 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Nepal Economy 2010 should be addressed to the CIA.
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This page was last modified 09-Feb-10