Economy

Libya

Economy - overview:

The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contribute practically all export earnings and about one-quarter of GDP. These oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, but little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. Libyan officials in the past three years have made progress on economic reforms as part of a broader campaign to reintegrate the country into the international fold. This effort picked up steam after UN sanctions were lifted in September 2003 and as Libya announced in December 2003 that it would abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction. Libya faces a long road ahead in liberalizing the socialist-oriented economy, but initial steps - including applying for WTO membership, reducing some subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization - are laying the groundwork for a transition to a more market-based economy. The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for about 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food.

GDP:

purchasing power parity - $35 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

3.2% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:

purchasing power parity - $6,400 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 8.6%
industry: 46.1%
services: 45.3% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):

15% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:

NA

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

2.8% (2003 est.)

Labor force:

1.51 million (2003 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture 17%, industry 29%, services 54% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate:

30% (2001)

Budget:

revenues: $10.28 billion
expenditures: $7.86 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)

Public debt:

16.6% of GDP (2003)

Agriculture - products:

wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts, soybeans; cattle

Industries:

petroleum, food processing, textiles, handicrafts, cement

Industrial production growth rate:

NA

Electricity - production:

20.18 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:

18.77 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:

1.429 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:

216,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:

NA (2001)

Oil - imports:

NA (2001)

Oil - proved reserves:

29.75 billion bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:

6.18 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

5.41 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

770 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

1.321 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:

$6.641 billion (2003)

Exports:

$14.32 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:

crude oil, refined petroleum products (1999)

Exports - partners:

Italy 39.2%, Spain 13.6%, Germany 13.5%, Turkey 6.6%, France 6.1% (2003 est.)

Imports:

$6.282 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery, transport equipment, food, manufactured goods (1999)

Imports - partners:

Italy 27.2%, Germany 10.3%, Tunisia 7.7%, UK 6.9%, South Korea 6.3%, France 5.8% (2003 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:

$19.78 billion (2003)

Debt - external:

$4.194 billion (2003 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:

$15 million (2000)

Currency:

Libyan dinar (LYD)

Currency code:

LYD

Exchange rates:

Libyan dinars per US dollar - 1.2929 (2003), 1.2707 (2002), 0.6051 (2001), 0.4994 (2000), 0.3936 (1999)

Fiscal year:

calendar year