e Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The
economy is still primarily based on subsistence agriculture,
especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural
activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income
remains a major drawback. Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$5.892 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
3.3% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,200 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 15.2%
industry: 43.9%
services: 40.9% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
838,000 (2000)

Labor force - by occupation:
86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture;
roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa

Unemployment rate:
45% (2002)

Population below poverty line:
49% (1999)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.9%
highest 10%: 43.4%

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
56 (1986-87)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.3% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
39.6% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $698.5 million
expenditures: $697.6 million, including capital expenditures of $15
million (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock

Industries:
food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts;
construction; tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
15.5% (1999)

Electricity - production:
314 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
308 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
16 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2002)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
1,500 bbl/day (2001)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Current account balance:
$-108.3 million (2004 est.)

Exports:
$484.5 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and
mohair, food and live animals (2000)

Exports - partners:
US 97%, Canada 2.1%, UK 0.3% (2004)

Imports:
$730.9 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum
products (2000)

Imports - partners:
Hong Kong