| Economy - overview | Having discarded past socialist economic policies, Madagascar has since the mid 1990s followed a World Bank- and IMF-led policy of privatization and liberalization. This strategy placed the country on a slow and steady growth path from an extremely low level. Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more than one-fourth of GDP and employing 80% of the population. Exports of apparel have boomed in recent years primarily due to duty-free access to the US. Deforestation and erosion, aggravated by the use of firewood as the primary source of fuel, are serious concerns. President RAVALOMANANA has worked aggressively to revive the economy following the 2002 political crisis, which triggered a 12% drop in GDP that year. Poverty reduction and combating corruption will be the centerpieces of economic policy for the next few years. |
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| GDP | 1% (2006) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 4.7% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 26.9%
industry: 16.5%
services: 56.6% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 50% (2004 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 29% (1999) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 47.5 (2001) |
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| Labor force | 7.3 million (2000) |
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| Budget | revenues: $879.9 million
expenditures: $1.147 billion; including capital expenditures of $331 million (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | meat processing, seafood, soap, breweries, tanneries, sugar, textiles, glassware, cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum, tourism |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 3% (2000 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 984 million kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 36.1%
hydro: 63.9%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 915.1 million kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | 90.59 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - consumption | 14,500 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - exports | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - imports | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - proved reserves | 0 bbl (1 January 2002) |
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| Agriculture - products | coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), beans, bananas, peanuts; livestock products |
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| Exports | $993.5 million f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | coffee, vanilla, shellfish, sugar, cotton cloth, chromite, petroleum products |
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| Exports - partners | France 31.6%, US 31%, Germany 8.8% (2005) |
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| Imports | $1.544 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | capital goods, petroleum, consumer goods, food |
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| Imports - partners | France 16.8%, China 10.7%, Iran 8%, Mauritius 6.7%, Hong Kong 5%, South Africa 4.9% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $4.6 billion (2002) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $354 million (2001) |
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| Currency code | MGF |
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| Exchange rates | Malagasy ariary per US dollar - 2,161.4 (2006), 2,003 (2005), 1,868.9 (2004), 1,238.3 (2003), 1,366.4 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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