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| Economy - overview: |
Moldova enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Moldova must import all of its supplies of oil, coal, and natural gas, largely from Russia. Energy shortages contributed to sharp production declines after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. As part of an ambitious reform effort, Moldova introduced a convertible currency, freed all prices, stopped issuing preferential credits to state enterprises, backed steady land privatization, removed export controls, and freed interest rates. Yet these efforts could not offset the impact of political and economic difficulties, both internal and regional. In 1998, the economic troubles of Russia, by far Moldova's leading trade partner, were a major cause of the 8.6% drop in GDP. In 1999, GDP fell again, by 4.4%, the fifth drop in the past seven years; exports were down, and energy supplies continued to be erratic. GDP declined slightly in 2000, with a serious drought hurting agriculture. Growth should turn positive in 2001.
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| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $11.3 billion (2000 est.)
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| GDP - real growth rate: |
-1.5% (2000 est.)
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| GDP - per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $2,500 (2000 est.)
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| GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture:
31%
industry:
35%
services:
34% (1998)
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| Population below poverty line: |
75% (1999 est.)
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| Household income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
2.7%
highest 10%:
25.8% (1992)
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| Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
32% (2000 est.)
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| Labor force: |
1.7 million (1998)
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| Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture 40%, industry 14%, other 46% (1998)
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| Unemployment rate: |
1.9% (includes only officially registered unemployed; large numbers of underemployed workers) (November 2000)
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| Budget: |
revenues:
$536 million
expenditures:
$594 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)
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| Industries: |
food processing, agricultural machinery, foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, hosiery, sugar, vegetable oil, shoes, textiles
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| Industrial production growth rate: |
3% (2000 est.)
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| Electricity - production: |
4.155 billion kWh (1999)
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| Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel:
93.62%
hydro:
6.38%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
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| Electricity - consumption: |
5.78 billion kWh (1999)
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| Electricity - exports: |
0 kWh (1999)
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| Electricity - imports: |
1.916 billion kWh (1999)
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| Agriculture - products: |
vegetables, fruits, wine, grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, tobacco; beef, milk
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| Exports: |
$500 million (f.o.b., 2000)
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| Exports - commodities: |
foodstuffs 57%, wine, tobacco; textiles and footwear, machinery (1999)
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| Exports - partners: |
Russia 41%, Romania 9%, Germany 8%, Ukraine 7%, Italy, Belarus (1999)
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| Imports: |
$761 million (f.o.b., 2000)
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| Imports - commodities: |
mineral products and fuel 38%, machinery and equipment, chemicals, textiles (1999)
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| Imports - partners: |
Russia 21%, Romania 16%, Ukraine 14%, Germany 12%, Italy 6%, Belarus (1999)
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| Debt - external: |
$900 million (2000)
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| Economic aid - recipient: |
$100.8 million (1995); note - $547 million from the IMF and World Bank (1992-99)
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| Currency: |
Moldovan leu (MDL)
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| Exchange rates: |
lei per US dollar - 12.3728 (January 2001), 12.4342 (2000), 10.5158 (1999), 5.3707 (1998), 4.6236 (1997), 4.6045 (1996); note - lei is the plural form of leu
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| Fiscal year: |
calendar year
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