Country Fast Facts: Yemen
Yemen
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North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became South Yemen.
Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility between the states.
The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border.
Source: CIA World Fact Book
Population:
23,822,783 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 46.2% (male 5,602,590/female 5,398,103)
15-64 years: 51.3% (male 6,212,378/female 6,009,401)
65 years and over: 2.5% (male 288,501/female 311,810) (2009 est.)
Median age:
total: 16.8 years
male: 16.7 years
female: 16.8 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.453% (2009 est.)
Birth rate:
42.42 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
7.83 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
NA (2009 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 54.7 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 59.12 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 50.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63.27 years
male: 61.3 years
female: 65.33 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.32 children born/woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
12,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni
Ethnic groups:
predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
Religions:
Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Languages:
Arabic
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 50.2%
male: 70.5%
female: 30% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 9 years
male: 11 years
female: 7 years (2005)
Education expenditures:
9.6% of GDP (2001)
Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported average annual growth in the range of 3-4% from 2000 through 2007. In 2008, growth dropped below 3% as the price of oil declined and the slowing global economy reduced demand for oil. Yemen's economic fortunes depend mostly on declining oil resources, but the country is trying to diversify its earnings.
In 2006 Yemen began an economic reform program designed to bolster non-oil sectors of the economy and foreign investment. As a result of the program, international donors pledged about $5 billion for development projects.
A liquefied natural gas facility is scheduled to open in 2009. Yemen has limited exposure to the international financial system and no capital markets, however, the global financial crisis probably will reduce international aid in 2009.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$60.48 billion (2008 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$27.56 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3.2% (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,600 (2008 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 9.4%
industry: 52.4%
services: 38.1% (2008 est.)
Labor force:
6.494 million (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
note: most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force
Unemployment rate:
35% (2003 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25.9% (2003)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
37.7 (2005)
Investment (gross fixed):
26.3% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $9.097 billion
expenditures: $10.55 billion (2008 est.)
Public debt:
31.8% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
18% (2008 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
NA
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
18% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$3.076 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$4.526 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:
$2.224 billion (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA
Agriculture - products:
grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat, coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish
Industries:
crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement; commercial ship repair
Industrial production growth rate:
2.5% (2008 est.)
Electricity - production:
5.017 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
3.804 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Oil - production:
320,600 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:
135,400 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:
336,600 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:
62,850 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:
3 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
478.5 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:
-$2.175 billion (2008 est.)
Exports:
$9.234 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Exports - commodities:
crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish
Exports - partners:
China 23.3%, India 20.4%, Thailand 19.1%, Japan 7.2%, UAE 5%, US 4.2% (2007)
Imports:
$9.215 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports - commodities:
food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners:
UAE 15.1%, China 11.6%, US 7.8%, Saudi Arabia 7.1%, Kuwait 5.3%, Germany 4.8% (2007)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$8.306 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Debt - external:
$6.472 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Exchange rates:
Yemeni rials (YER) per US dollar - 199.76 (2008 est.), 199.14 (2007), 197.18 (2006), 192.67 (2005), 184.78 (2004)
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