Iran Economy 1997

Economy - overview Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership ofoil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. Under President RAFSANJANI, the governmentadopted a number of market reforms to reduce the state's role in the economy,but most of these changes have moved slowly or have been reversed becauseof political opposition. In the early 1990s, Iran experienced a financialcrisis caused by an import surge that began in 1989 and general financialmismanagement. In 1993-1994, Iran rescheduled $15 billion in debt, with thebulk of payments due in 1996-97. The strong oil market in 1996 has helpedease financial pressures, however, and Tehran has so far made timely debtservice payments. In 1996, Iran's oil earnings - which account for 85% oftotal export revenues - climbed 20% from the previous year. Iran's financialsituation will remain tight through the end of the decade, and continued timelydebt service payments will depend, in part, on persistent strong oil pricesduring the next few years.

GDP purchasing power parity - $343.5 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 3.6% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $5,200 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 21%
industry : 37%
services: 42% (1994 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 23% (1996)

Labor force
total: 15.4 million
by occupation: agriculture 33%, manufacturing 21% (1988 est.)
note: shortage of skilled labor; 1.38% of the population in the 15-64 agegroup is non-national (July 1997 est.)

Unemployment rate over 30% (1995 est.)

Budget
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other construction materials,food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production),metal fabricating, armaments

Industrial production growth rate 4.3% (1994 est.)

Electricity - capacity 25.12 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production 74.76 billion kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita 1,137 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairyproducts, wool; caviar

Exports
total value : $21.3 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: petroleum 85%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides, iron, steel
partners: Japan, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium/Luxembourg, Spain, and Germany

Imports
total value: $13.3 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities : machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals,technical services, refined oil products
partners: Germany, Japan, Italy, UK, UAE, Russia, France

Debt - external $30 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid
recipient : ODA, $40 million (1993)

Currency 10 Iranian rials (IR) = 1 toman; note - domestic figures are generallyreferred to in terms of the toman

Exchange rates Iranian rials (IR) per US$1 - 1,755.12 (January 1997), 1,750.76 (1996),1,747.93 (1995), 1,748.75 (1994), 1,267.77 (1993), 65.55 (1992); black marketrate: 4,600 rials per US$1 (March 1997); note - as of May 1995, the "officialrate" of 1,750 rials per US$1 is used for imports of essential goods and servicesand for oil exports, whereas the "official export rate" of 3,000 rials perUS$1 is used for non-oil exports and imports not covered by the official rate

Fiscal year 21 March - 20 March

NOTE: The information regarding Iran on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Iran Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Iran Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.