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Economy - overview:
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In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 80% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners. Mining has declined in importance in recent years with only coal and quarry stone mines remaining active. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives about nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends nearly three-quarters of its exports. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union and worker remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2002 because of drought, and more than one-third of the adult population was infected by HIV/AIDS.
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GDP:
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purchasing power parity - $5.702 billion (2003 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate:
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2.2% (2003 est.)
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $4,900 (2003 est.)
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 16.2%
industry: 43.2%
services: 40.5% (2003 est.)
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Investment (gross fixed):
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21.1% of GDP (2003)
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Population below poverty line:
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40% (1995)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 50.2% (1995)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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7.3% (2003 est.)
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Labor force:
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383,200 (2000)
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Labor force - by occupation:
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NA
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Unemployment rate:
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34% (2000 est.)
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Budget:
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revenues: $462.4 million
expenditures: $563.4 million, including capital expenditures of $147 million (2003)
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Industries:
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mining (coal), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel
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Industrial production growth rate:
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3.7% (FY95/96)
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Electricity - production:
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348.3 million kWh (2001)
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 58%
hydro: 42%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
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Electricity - consumption:
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962.9 million kWh (2001)
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Electricity - exports:
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0 kWh (2001)
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Electricity - imports:
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639 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001)
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Oil - production:
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0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
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Oil - consumption:
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3,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
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Oil - exports:
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NA (2001)
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Oil - imports:
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NA (2001)
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Agriculture - products:
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sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep
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Current account balance:
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$-72.69 million (2003)
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Exports:
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$905.6 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)
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Exports - commodities:
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soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit
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Exports - partners:
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South Africa 72%, EU 14.2%, Mozambique 3.7%, US 3.5% (1999)
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Imports:
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$1.088 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
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Imports - commodities:
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motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
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Imports - partners:
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South Africa 88.8%, EU 5.6%, Japan 0.6%, Singapore 0.4% (1999)
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Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
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$277.5 million (2003)
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Debt - external:
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$320 million (2002 est.)
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$104 million (2001)
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Currency:
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lilangeni (SZL)
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Currency code:
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SZL
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Exchange rates:
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emalangeni per US dollar - 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000), 6.1095 (1999)
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Fiscal year:
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1 April - 31 March
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