led to dramatic improvements in the country's growth rate. Inflation
was reduced to single digits during the late 1990s, and although it
returned to double digits in 2000-06, in 2007 inflation had slowed
to 8%, while GDP growth reached 7.5%. Fiscal reforms, including the
introduction of a value-added tax and reform of the customs service,
have improved the government's revenue collection abilities. In
spite of these gains, Mozambique remains dependent upon foreign
assistance for much of its annual budget, and the majority of the
population remains below the poverty line. Subsistence agriculture
continues to employ the vast majority of the country's work force. A
substantial trade imbalance persists although the opening of the
Mozal aluminum smelter, the country's largest foreign investment
project to date, has increased export earnings. At the end of 2007,
and after years of negotiations, the government took over Portugal's
majority share of the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectricity (HCB) company, a
dam that was not transferred to Mozambique at independence because
of the ensuing civil war and unpaid debts. More power is needed for
additional investment projects in titanium extraction and processing
and garment manufacturing that could further close the import/export
gap. Mozambique's once substantial foreign debt has been reduced
through forgiveness and rescheduling under the IMF's Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Enhanced HIPC initiatives, and is
now at a manageable level. In July 2007 the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC) signed a Compact with Mozambique; the Mozambican
government moved rapidly to ratify the Compact and propose a plan
for funding.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$17.64 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$7.559 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

7.3% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$800 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 23%
industry: 30.1%
services: 46.9% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

9.6 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 81%
industry: 6%
services: 13% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate:

21% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line:

70% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 39.4% (2002)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

47.3 (2002)

Investment (gross fixed):

21.3% of GDP (2007