| People | Iran |
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Economy - overview:
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Iran's economy is marked by an inefficient state sector, reliance on the oil sector (which provides 85% of government revenues), and statist policies that create major distortions throughout. Most economic activity is controlled by the state. Private sector activity is typically small-scale workshops, farming, and services. President Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD failed to make any notable progress in fulfilling the goals of the nation's latest five-year plan. A combination of price controls and subsidies, particularly on food and energy, continue to weigh down the economy, and administrative controls, widespread corruption, and other rigidities undermine the potential for private-sector-led growth. As a result of these inefficiencies, significant informal market activity flourishes and shortages are common. High oil prices in recent years have enabled Iran to amass nearly $70 billion in foreign exchange reserves. Yet this increased revenue has not eased economic hardships, which include double-digit unemployment and inflation. The economy has seen only moderate growth. Iran's educated population, economic inefficiency and insufficient investment - both foreign and domestic - have prompted an increasing number of Iranians to seek employment overseas, resulting in significant "brain drain." |
GDP (purchasing power parity):
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$852.6 billion (2007 est.) |
GDP (official exchange rate):
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$278.1 billion (2007 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate:
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4.3% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$12,300 (2007 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 11%
industry: 45.3%
services: 43.7% (2007 est.) |
Investment (gross fixed):
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17% of GDP (2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line:
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18% (2007 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 33.7% (1998) |
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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43 (1998) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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17% (July 2007 est.) |
Labor force:
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28.7 million
note: shortage of skilled labor (2006 est.) |
Labor force participation rate:
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43.57 % of population |
Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 25%
industry: 31%
services: 45% (June 2007) |
Unemployment rate:
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11% according to the Iranian government (June 2007) |
Budget:
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revenues: $64 billion
expenditures: $64 billion (2007 est.) |
Budget revenues per capita:
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972 USD per capita |
Public debt:
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23.2% of GDP (2007 est.) |
Industries:
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petroleum, petrochemicals, fertilizers, caustic soda, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), ferrous and non-ferrous metal fabrication, armaments |
Industrial production growth rate:
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4.8% excluding oil (2007 est.) |
Electricity - production:
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170.4 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production per capita:
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2,587 kWh per capita |
Electricity - consumption:
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136.2 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - consumption - per capita:
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2,068 kWh per capita |
Electricity - exports:
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2.761 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports:
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2.074 billion kWh (2005) |
Oil - production:
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4.15 million bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Oil - production per capita:
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62,998 bbl/day per capita |
Oil - consumption:
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1.63 million bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Oil - consumption - per capita:
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9.03 bbl/year per capita |
Oil - exports:
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2.52 million bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Oil - imports:
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153,600 bbl/day (2004) |
Oil - proved reserves:
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132.5 billion bbl based on Iranian claims (1 January 2006 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
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101 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - production per capita:
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1,534 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - consumption:
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98.19 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption - per capita:
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1,491 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - exports:
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4.33 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - imports:
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5.8 billion cu m (2005) |
Natural gas - proved reserves:
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26.37 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products:
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wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, sugar cane, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar |
Current account balance:
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$19 billion (2007 est.) |
Current account balance - per capita:
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1 USD per capita |
Exports:
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$76.5 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
Exports per capita:
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1,162 USD per capita |
Exports - commodities:
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petroleum 80%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets |
Exports - partners:
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Japan 14%, China 12.8%, Turkey 7.2%, Italy 6.3%, South Korea 6%, Netherlands 4.6% (2006) |
Imports:
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$61.3 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
Imports per capita:
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931 USD per capita |
Imports - commodities:
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industrial raw materials and intermediate goods, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services |
Imports - partners:
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Germany 12.2%, China 10.5%, UAE 9.3%, France 5.6%, Italy 5.4%, South Korea 5.4%, Russia 4.4% (2006) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$69.2 billion (2007 est.) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold - per capita:
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1,051 USD per capita |
Debt - external:
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$13.8 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Debt - external - per capita:
|
210 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
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$4.345 billion (2006 est.) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
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$138 million (2006 est.) |
Market value of publicly traded shares:
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$45.2 billion (December 2007) |
Economic aid - donor:
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void |
Economic aid - recipient:
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$104 million (2005 est.) |
Economic aid - recipient per capita:
|
2 USD per capita |
Currency (code):
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Iranian rial (IRR) |
Exchange rates:
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rials per US dollar - 9,407.5 (2007), 9,227.1 (2006), 8,964 (2005), 8,614 (2004), 8,193.9 (2003)
note: Iran has been using a managed floating exchange rate regime since unifying multiple exchange rates in March 2002 |
Fiscal year:
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21 March - 20 March |
|
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