Basic Country Facts

Economy Economic overview: The Ba'thist regime engages in extensive central planning and management of industrial production and foreign trade while leaving some small-scale industry and services and most agriculture to private enterprise. The economy has been dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. In the 1980s, financial problems caused by massive expenditures in the eight-year war with Iran and damage to oil export facilities by Iran, led the government to implement austerity measures and to borrow heavily and later reschedule foreign debt payments; Iraq suffered economic losses of at least $100 billion from the war. After the end of hostilities in 1988, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities. Agricultural development remained hampered by labor shortages, salinization, and dislocations caused by previous land reform and collectivization programs. The industrial sector, although accorded high priority by the government, also was under financial constraints. Iraq's seizure of Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international economic embargoes, and military action by an international coalition beginning in January 1991 drastically changed the economic picture. Industrial and transportation facilities, which suffered severe damage, have been partially restored. Oil exports remain at less than 5% of the previous level. Shortages of spare parts continue. Living standards deteriorated even further in 1994 and 1995; consumer prices have more than doubled in both 1994 and 1995. The UN-sponsored economic embargo has reduced exports and imports and has contributed to the sharp rise in prices. The Iraqi Government has been unwilling to abide by UN resolutions so that the economic embargo can be removed. The government's policies of supporting large military and internal security forces and of allocating resources to key supporters of the regime have exacerbated shortages. In brief, per capita output for 1994-95 is well below the 1989-90 level, but any estimate has a wide range of error. GDP: purchasing power parity - $41.1 billion (1995 est.) GDP real growth rate: NA% GDP per capita: $2,000 (1995 est.) GDP composition by sector: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA% Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA% Labor force: 4.4 million (1989) by occupation: services 48%, agriculture 30%, industry 22% note: severe labor shortage; expatriate labor force was about 1,600,000 (July 1990); since then, it has declined substantially Unemployment rate: NA% Budget: revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA Industries: petroleum, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, food processing Industrial production growth rate: NA% Electricity: capacity: 7,170,000 kW production: 25.7 billion kWh consumption per capita: 1,247 kWh (1993) Agriculture: wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, other fruit, cotton; cattle, sheep Exports: $NA commodities: crude oil and refined products, fertilizer, sulfur partners: US, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, Netherlands, Spain (1990) Imports: $NA commodities: manufactures, food partners: Germany, US, Turkey, France, UK (1990) External debt: $50 billion (1989 est.), excluding debt of about $35 billion owed to Gulf Arab states Economic aid: recipient: ODA, $NA Currency: 1 Iraqi dinar (ID) = 1,000 fils Exchange rates: Iraqi dinars (ID) per US$1 - 3.2169 (fixed official rate since 1982); black-market rate (December 1995) US$1 = 2,900 Iraqi dinars; semi-official rate US$1 = 1,000 Iraqi dinars Fiscal year: calendar year