Economy - overview Burma has a mixed economy with private activity dominant in agriculture, light industry, and transport, and with substantial state-controlled activity, mainly in energy, heavy industry, and the rice trade. Government policy in the last nine years, 1989-97, has aimed at revitalizing the economy after three decades of tight central planning. Thus, private activity has markedly increased; foreign investment has been encouraged, so far with moderate success; and efforts continue to increase the efficiency of state enterprises. Published estimates of Burma's foreign trade are greatly understated because of the volume of black-market trade. A major ongoing problem is the failure to achieve monetary and fiscal stability. Although Burma remains a poor Asian country, its rich resources furnish the potential for substantial long-term increases in income, exports, and living standards.

GDP purchasing power parity - $55.7 billion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 6% (1997 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,190 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 61%
industry: 10%
services: 29% (1996 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 30%-40% (1997 est.)

Labor force
total: 18.8 million (FY95/96 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 65.2%, industry 14.3%, trade 10.1%, government 6.3%, other 4.1% (FY88/89 est.)

Unemployment rate NA%

Budget
revenues: $7.9 billion
expenditures: $12.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion (FY96/97)

Industries agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer

Industrial production growth rate 9.2% (FY95/96 est.)

Electricity - capacity 1.212 million kW (1995)

Electricity - production 4.1 billion kWh (FY95/96 est.)

Electricity - consumption per capita 79 kWh (1995)

Agriculture - products paddy rice, corn, oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; hardwood

Exports
total value: $693 million (1996)
commodities: pulses and beans, teak, rice, rubber, hardwood
partners: Singapore, China, Indonesia, India, Thailand

Imports
total value: $1.4 billion (1996)
commodities: machinery, transport equipment, construction materials, food products, consumer goods
partners: Japan, Singapore, China, Thailand, Malaysia

Debt - external $5.3 billion (FY94/95 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $61 million (1993)

Currency 1 kyat (K) = 100 pyas

Exchange rates kyats (K) per US$1 - 6.3941 (January 1998) 6.2418 (1997), 5.9176 (1996), 5.6670 (1995), 5.9749 (1994), 6.1570 (1993); unofficial - 310-350 (1998)

Fiscal year 1 April - 31 March

NOTE: The information regarding Burma on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Burma Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Burma Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.