1996 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%

highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 16% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 17.3 million

note: shortage of skilled labor (1998)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 33%, industry 25%, services
42% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 14% (1999 est.)

Budget: revenues: $27 billion

expenditures: $27 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1999)

Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other
construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining
and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating, armaments

Industrial production growth rate: 4.4% (nonoil) (1999)

Electricity - production: 103.054 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 93.16%

hydro: 6.84%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 95.84 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets,
fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar

Exports: $25 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: petroleum 85%, carpets, fruits and nuts, iron
and steel, chemicals

Exports - partners: Japan, Italy, UAE, South Korea, France, China

Imports: $15 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: industrial raw materials and intermediate
goods, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical
services, military supplies

Imports - partners: Germany, South Korea, Italy, UAE, France, Japan

Debt - external: $7.5 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $116.5 million (1995)

Currency: Iranian rial (IRR)

Currency code: IRR

Exchange rates: Iranian rials per US dollar - 1,754.71 (January
2001), 1,764.43 (2000), 1,725.93 (1999), 1,751.86 (1998), 1,752.92
(1997), 1,750.76 (1996)

note: Iran has three officially recognized exchange rates; the
averages for 1999 are as follows: the official floating rate of
1,750 rials per US dollar, the "export" rate of 3,000 rials per US
dollar, and the variable Tehran Stock Exchange rate, which averages
7,863 rials per US dollar; the market rate averages 8,615 rials per
US dollar

Fiscal year: 21 March - 20 March

Iran Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 6.313 million (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 265,000 (August 1998)

Telephone system: gener