sistance. Agriculture,
including fishing, hunting, and forestry, contributes 40% to GDP,
employs 80% of the labor force, and provides most of the exports.
The country is not self-sufficient in food production; rice, the
main staple, accounts for the bulk of imports. The government -
which is hampered by internal political disputes - is struggling to
upgrade education and technical training, to privatize commercial
and industrial enterprises, to improve health services, to diversify
exports, to promote tourism, and to reduce the high population
growth rate. Increased foreign support is essential if the goal of
4% annual GDP growth is to be met. Remittances from 150,000 Comorans
abroad help supplement GDP.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $441 million (2002 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
2% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $700 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 40%
industry: 4%
services: 56% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line:
60% (2002 est.)

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.5% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
144,500 (1996 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 80%

Unemployment rate:
20% (1996 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $27.6 million
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA (2001 est.)

Agriculture - products:
vanilla, cloves, perfume essences, copra, coconuts, bananas,
cassava (tapioca)

Industries:
tourism, perfume distillation

Industrial production growth rate:
-2% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production:
21.27 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
19.78 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

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

Oil - consumption:
700 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA (2001)

Oil - imports:
NA (2001)

Exports:
$28 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)

Exports - commodities:
vanilla, ylang-ylang, cloves, perfume oil, copra

Exports - partners:
France 46.9%, Germany 18.8%, US 12.5% (2003)

Imports:
$88 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)

Imports - commodities:
rice and other foodstuffs, consumer goods; petroleum products,
cement, transport equipment

Imports - partners:
France 31.6%, Japan 13.7%, South Africa 10.3%, Kenya 5.1%, UAE
5.1%, Thail