Basic Country Facts

Economy Economic overview: Sudan is buffeted by civil war, chronic political instability, adverse weather, high inflation, a drop in remittances from abroad, and counterproductive economic policies. The private sector's main areas of activity are agriculture and trading, with most private industrial investment predating 1980. Agriculture employs 80% of the work force. Industry mainly processes agricultural items. Sluggish economic performance over the past decade, attributable largely to declining annual rainfall, has reduced levels of per capita income and consumption. A large foreign debt and huge arrearages continue to cause difficulties. In 1990 the International Monetary Fund took the unusual step of declaring Sudan noncooperative because of its nonpayment of arrearages to the Fund. After Sudan backtracked on promised reforms in 1992-93, the IMF threatened to expel Sudan from the Fund. To avoid expulsion, Khartoum agreed to make payments on its arrears to the Fund, liberalize exchange rates, and reduce subsidies, measures it has partially implemented. The government's continued prosecution of the civil war and its growing international isolation continued to inhibit growth in the nonagricultural sectors of the economy during 1995. Agricultural production in 1995, while fairly good, was not up to the bumper crop level of 1994. GDP: purchasing power parity - $25 billion (1995 est.) GDP real growth rate: 0% (1995 est.) GDP per capita: $800 (1995 est.) GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 33% industry: 17% services: 50% (1992 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 66% (1995 est.) Labor force: 8.9 million (1993 est.) by occupation: agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 10%, government 6% note: labor shortages for almost all categories of skilled employment (1983 est.) Unemployment rate: 30% (FY92/93 est.) Budget: revenues: $382 million expenditures: $1.06 billion, including capital expenditures of $91 million (1995 est.) Industries: cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining Industrial production growth rate: 6.8% (FY92/93 est.) Electricity: capacity: 500,000 kW production: 1.3 billion kWh consumption per capita: 42 kWh (1993) Agriculture: cotton, oilseed, sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic; sheep Exports: $535 million (f.o.b., 1995 est.) commodities: cotton 24%, livestock/meat 13%, gum arabic 11% partners: EU 39%, Saudi Arabia 19%, Japan 9%, US 3% (1993) Imports: $1.1 billion (c.i.f., 1995 est.) commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum products, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles partners: EU 31%, Libya 19%, Egypt 5%, Saudi Arabia 5%, US 5% (1993) External debt: $18 billion (yearend 1995 est.) Economic aid: recipient: ODA, $387 million (1993) Currency: 1 Sudanese pound (£Sd) = 100 piastres Exchange rates: Sudanese pounds (£Sd) per US$1 - official rate: 750.0 (November 1995), 277.8 (1994), 153.8 (1993), 69.4 (1992), 5.4288 (1991); market rate: 571.02 (August 1995), 289.61 (1994), 159.31 (1993), 97.43 (1992), 6.96 (1991) note: the market rate is a unified exchange rate determined by a committee of local bankers, without official intervention, and is quoted uniformly by all commercial banks Fiscal year: calendar year note: prior to July 1995, Sudan had a fiscal year that began on 1 July and ended on 30 June; as a transition to their new fiscal year, a six-month budget was implemented for 1 July - 31 December 1995; the new calendar year (1 January - 31 December) fiscal year became effective 1 January 1996