Sudan has turned around a struggling economy with sound economic policies and infrastructure investments, but it still faces formidable economic problems, starting from its low level of per capita output. From 1997 to date, Sudan has been implementing IMF macroeconomic reforms. In 1999, Sudan began exporting crude oil and in the last quarter of 1999 recorded its first trade surplus, which, along with monetary policy, has stabilized the exchange rate. Increased oil production, revived light industry, and expanded export processing zones helped sustain GDP growth at 10% in 2006. Agricultural production remains Sudan's most important sector, employing 80% of the work force, contributing 35% of GDP, and accounting for most of GDP growth, but most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Chronic instability - resulting from the long-standing civil war between the Muslim north and the Christian/pagan south, adverse weather, and weak world agricultural prices - ensure that much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$96.01 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$25.5 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
9.6% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,300 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 35.5%
industry: 24.8%
services: 39.7% (2006 est.)
Labor force:
7.415 million (1996 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 80%
industry: 7%
services: 13% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate:
18.7% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line:
40% (2004 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
25.3% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $7.943 billion
expenditures: $10.1 billion; including capital expenditures of $304 million (2006 est.)
Public debt:
59.6% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), mangos, papaya, bananas, sweet potatoes, sesame; sheep, livestock
Industries:
oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments, automobile/light truck assembly
Industrial production growth rate:
8.5% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production:
3.845 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - consumption:
3.576 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2004)
Oil - production:
344,700 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption:
66,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports:
275,000 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports:
0 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves:
1.6 billion bbl (2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
84.95 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)
Current account balance:
$-4.51 billion (2006 est.)
Exports:
$7.505 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities:
oil and petroleum products; cotton, sesame, livestock, groundnuts, gum arabic, sugar
Exports - partners:
China 71.1%, Japan 12%, Saudi Arabia 2.8% (2005)
Imports:
$8.693 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, manufactured goods, refinery and transport equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles, wheat
Imports - partners:
China 20.7%, Saudi Arabia 9.4%, UAE 5.9%, Egypt 5.5%, Japan 5.1%, India 4.8% (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$3.552 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external:
$29.69 billion (2006 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$172 million (2001)
Currency (code):
Sudanese dinar (SDD)
Exchange rates:
Sudanese dinars per US dollar - 217.402 (2006), 243.61 (2005), 257.91 (2004), 260.98 (2003), 263.31 (2002)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
