ptember 2003, Egyptian officials increased subsidies on basic
foodstuffs, helping to calm a frustrated public but widening an
already deep budget deficit. Egypt's balance-of-payments position
was not hurt by the war in Iraq in 2003, as tourism and Suez Canal
revenues fared well. The development of an export market for natural
gas is a bright spot for future growth prospects, but improvement in
the capital-intensive hydrocarbons sector does little to reduce
Egypt's persistent unemployment.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $295.2 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
3.1% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 17%
industry: 33%
services: 50% (2003)

Investment (gross fixed):
16.7% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
16.7% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 29.5% (1999)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
34.4 (1999)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.3% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
20.19 million (2003 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 32%, industry 17%, services 51% (2001 est.)

Unemployment rate:
9.9% (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $14.69 billion
expenditures: $19.03 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.7
billion (2003)

Public debt:
101.8% of GDP (2003)

Agriculture - products:
cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruits, vegetables; cattle, water
buffalo, sheep, goats

Industries:
textiles, food processing, tourism, chemicals, hydrocarbons,
construction, cement, metals

Industrial production growth rate:
1.5% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
75.23 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
69.96 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
816,900 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
562,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA (2001)

Oil - imports:
NA (2001)

Oil - proved reserves:
3.308 billion bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:
21.2 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
21.2 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
1.264 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current accoun