| Economy - overview | Sudan has turned around a struggling economy with sound economic policies and infrastructure investments, but it still faces formidable economic problems starting from its low level of per capita output. From 1997 to date, Sudan has been implementing IMF macroeconomic reforms. In 1999, Sudan began exporting crude oil and in the last quarter of 1999 recorded its first trade surplus, which, along with monetary policy, has stabilized the exchange rate. Increased oil production, high oil prices, revived light industry, and expanded export processing zones helped sustain GDP growth at about 10% in 2006. Agricultural production remains Sudan's most important sector, employing 80% of the work force and contributing 35% of GDP, but most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Chronic instability - resulting from the long-standing North/South civil war as well as the Darfur conflict, adverse weather, and weak world agricultural prices - ensure that much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years. In late 2006, the government announced its intention to introduce a new currency, the Sudan Pound, from January 2007 at an exchange rate of $1.00 equals 2 Sudanese Pounds. |
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| GDP | 3% (2005 est.) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 9.6% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 35.5%
industry: 24.8%
services: 39.7% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 40% (2004 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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| Labor force | 7.415 million (1996 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 80%
industry: 7%
services: 13% (1998 est.) |
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| Unemployment rate | 18.7% (2002 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $7.943 billion
expenditures: $10.1 billion; including capital expenditures of $304 million (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments, automobile/light truck assembly |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 8.5% (1999 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 3.845 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 52.1%
hydro: 47.9%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 3.576 billion 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 | 344,700 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - consumption | 66,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - exports | 275,000 bbl/day (2004) |
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| Oil - imports | 0 bbl/day (2004) |
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| Oil - proved reserves | 1.6 billion bbl (2006 est.) |
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| Agriculture - products | cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), mangos, papaya, bananas, sweet potatoes, sesame; sheep, livestock |
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| Exports | $7.505 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | oil and petroleum products; cotton, sesame, livestock, groundnuts, gum arabic, sugar |
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| Exports - partners | China 71.1%, Japan 12%, Saudi Arabia 2.8% (2005) |
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| Imports | $8.693 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, manufactured goods, refinery and transport equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles, wheat |
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| Imports - partners | China 20.7%, Saudi Arabia 9.4%, UAE 5.9%, Egypt 5.5%, Japan 5.1%, India 4.8% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $29.69 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $172 million (2001) |
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| Currency code | SDD |
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| Exchange rates | Sudanese dinars per US dollar - 217.2 (2006), 243.61 (2005), 257.91 (2004), 260.98 (2003), 263.31 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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