Economy Of World - World Information

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Economy Of World
World Information - Country Guides

Economy overview	Global output rose by 3.7% in 2003, led by China (9.1%), India (7.6%), and Russia (7.3%). The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 5%-7% range of growth. Growth results posted by the major industrial countries varied from a loss by Germany (-0.1%) to a strong gain by the United States (3.1%). The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decision-making powers to international bodies. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. After the coalition victory, the complex political difficulties and the high economic cost of establishing domestic order in Iraq became major global problems that continue into 2004.
GDP	GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $51.48 trillion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	3.8% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 4% industry: 32% services: 64% (2004 est.)
Investment gross fixed
Population below poverty line
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na
Distribution of family income - Gini index
Inflation rate consumer prices	developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries (2003 est.)
Labor force	NA
Labor force by occupation	agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA
Unemployment rate	30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment
Budget
Public debt
Agriculture products
Industries	dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems
Industrial production growth rate	3% (2002 est.)
Electricity production	14.93 trillion kWh (2001 est.)
Electricity production by source	fossil fuel: na hydro: na other: na (2001) nuclear: na
Electricity consumption	13.94 trillion kWh (2001 est.)
Electricity exports
Electricity imports
Oil production	75.34 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil consumption	75.81 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil exports
Oil imports
Oil proved reserves	1.025 trillion bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas production	2.578 trillion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas consumption	2.555 trillion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas exports	712 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas imports	697.5 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas proved reserves	161.2 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance
Exports	$6.421 trillion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports commodities	the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Exports partners	US 16.4%, Germany 7.9%, UK 5.2%, France 5.1%, China 5%, Japan 4.6% (2003)
Imports	$6.531 trillion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports commodities	the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Imports partners	US 9.9%, Germany 9.4%, China 7.9%, Japan 6.7%, France 4.7% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange gold
Debt external	$2 trillion for less developed countries (2002 est.)
Economic aid recipient	official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion
Currency
Currency code
Exchange rates
Fiscal year

Economy Of WorldWorld Information - Country Guides

Economy Of World
World Information - Country Guides