| Economy - overview | At independence in September 1991, Macedonia was the least developed of the Yugoslav republics, producing a mere 5% of the total federal output of goods and services. The collapse of Yugoslavia ended transfer payments from the central government and eliminated advantages from inclusion in a de facto free trade area. An absence of infrastructure, UN sanctions on the downsized Yugoslavia, and a Greek economic embargo over a dispute about the country's constitutional name and flag hindered economic growth until 1996. GDP subsequently rose each year through 2000. However, the leadership's commitment to economic reform, free trade, and regional integration was undermined by the ethnic Albanian insurgency of 2001. The economy shrank 4.5% because of decreased trade, intermittent border closures, increased deficit spending on security needs, and investor uncertainty. Growth barely recovered in 2002 to 0.9%, then averaged 4% per year during 2003-06. Macedonia has maintained macroeconomic stability with low inflation, but it has lagged the region in attracting foreign investment, and job growth has been anemic. Macedonia has an extensive gray market, estimated to be more than 20 percent of GDP, that falls outside official statistics. |
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| GDP | 6% (2005 est.) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 3.1% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 9%
industry: 29%
services: 62% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 30% (2005) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 28.2 (1998) |
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| Labor force | 899,000 (2006 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 21.7%
industry: 32.6%
services: 45.7% (September 2006) |
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| Unemployment rate | 36% (September 2006 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $2.234 billion
expenditures: $2.284 billion; including capital expenditures of $24 million (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, iron, steel, cement, energy, pharmaceuticals |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 3.4% (2006 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 5.935 billion kWh (2006) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 83.7%
hydro: 16.3%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 8.929 billion kWh (2006) |
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Electricity -
exports | 0 kWh (2006) |
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Electricity -
imports | 2.994 billion kWh (2006) |
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| Oil - production | 0 bbl/day (2005) |
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| Oil - consumption | 23,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
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| Oil - exports | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - imports | NA bbl/day |
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| Agriculture - products | grapes, wine, tobacco, vegetables; milk, eggs |
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| Exports | $2.341 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | food, beverages, tobacco; textiles, miscellaneous manufactures, iron and steel |
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| Exports - partners | Serbia and Montenegro 22.5%, Germany 17.8%, Greece 15.3%, Italy 8.3% (2005) |
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| Imports | $3.631 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, automobiles, chemicals, fuels, food products |
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| Imports - partners | Russia 13.2%, Germany 10.4%, Greece 9.2%, Serbia and Montenegro 8.2%, Bulgaria 7.3%, Italy 6% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $2.285 billion (November 2006) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $NA |
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| Currency code | MKD |
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| Exchange rates | Macedonian denars per US dollar - 48.978 (2006), 48.92 (2005), 49.41 (2004), 54.322 (2003), 64.35 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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