ne-building sector specializing in construction equipment,
tractors, agricultural machinery, and some defense items. The
breakup of the USSR in December 1991 and the collapse in demand for
Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry products resulted in a
short-term contraction of the economy, with the steepest annual
decline occurring in 1994. In 1995-97, the pace of the government
program of economic reform and privatization quickened, resulting in
a substantial shifting of assets into the private sector. Kazakhstan
enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 - 8% or more per year in
2002-06 - thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to
economic reform, good harvests, and foreign investment. The opening
of the Caspian Consortium pipeline in 2001, from western
Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raised
export capacity. Kazakhstan in 2006 completed the Atasu-Alashankou
portion of an oil pipeline to China that is planned to extend from
the country's Caspian coast eastward to the Chinese border in future
construction. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy
designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the
oil sector by developing light industry. The policy aims to reduce
the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel. The
government has engaged in several disputes with foreign oil
companies over the terms of production agreements; tensions
continue. Upward pressure on the local currency continued in 2006
due to massive oil-related foreign-exchange inflows.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$138.7 billion (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$52.6 billion (2006 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
8.5% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$9,100 (2006 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 6.3%
industry: 41.1%
services: 52.7% (2006 est.)

Labor force:
7.834 million (2006 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 20%
industry: 30%
services: 50% (2002 est.)

Unemployment rate:
7.4% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line:
19% (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 26.5% (2004 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
31.5 (2003)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.6% (2006 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
27% of GDP (2006 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $18.48 billio