nomic reform,
hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient
economy. Privatization goals remain limited. In 1998-2003,
Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export
routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term
external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by 38%
in 2003, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices.
Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of
widespread internal poverty, the burden of foreign debt, and the
unwillingness of the government to adopt market-oriented reforms.
However, Turkmenistan's cooperation with the international community
in transporting humanitarian aid to Afghanistan may foreshadow a
change in the atmosphere for foreign investment, aid, and
technological support. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state
secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of
error. In particular, the 20% rate of GDP growth is a guess.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $27.88 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
23.1% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $5,800 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 24.8%
industry: 46.2%
services: 28.9% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
19.5% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
34.4% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
40.8 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9.5% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
2.34 million (1996)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 48%, industry 15%, services 37% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate:
NA

Budget:
revenues: $3.477 billion
expenditures: $3.908 billion, including capital expenditures of NA
(2003 est.)

Agriculture - products:
cotton, grain; livestock

Industries:
natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing

Industrial production growth rate:
14% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
10.18 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
8.509 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
980 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
20 million kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
162,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
63,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA (2001)

Oil - imports:
N