onics,
food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining

Industrial production growth rate: 3.6% (1998)

Electricity--production: 3.629 trillion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 65.1%
hydro: 9.6%
nuclear: 18.59%
other: 6.71% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 3.666 trillion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 9.02 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 46.543 billion kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: wheat, other grains, corn, fruits,
vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; forest
products; fish

Exports: $663 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Exports--commodities: capital goods, automobiles, industrial
supplies and raw materials, consumer goods, agricultural products

Exports--partners: Canada 22%, Western Europe 21%, Japan 10%,
Mexico 10% (1997)

Imports: $912 billion (c.i.f., 1998 est.)

Imports--commodities: crude oil and refined petroleum products,
machinery, automobiles, consumer goods, industrial raw materials,
food and beverages

Imports--partners: Canada, 19%, Western Europe 18%, Japan 14%,
Mexico 10%, China 7% (1997)

Debt--external: $862 billion (1995 est.)

Economic aid--donor: ODA, $7.4 billion (1995)

Currency: 1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: British pounds (L) per US$--0.6057 (January 1999),
0.6037 (1998), 0.6106 (1997), 0.6403 (1996), 0.6335 (1995), 0.6529
(1994); Canadian dollars (Can$) per US$--1.5192 (January 1999),
1.4835 (1998), 1.3846 (1997), 1.3635 (1996), 1.3724 (1995), 1.3656
(1994); French francs (F) per US$--5.65 (January 1999), 5.8995
(1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996), 4.9915 (1995), 5.5520 (1994);
Italian lire (Lit) per US$--1,668.7 (January 1999), 1,763.2 (1998),
1,703.1 (1997), 1,542.9 (1996), 1,628.9 (1995), 1,612.4 (1994);
Japanese yen (Y) per US$--113.18 (January 1999), 130.91 (1998),
120.99 (1997), 108.78 (1996), 94.06 (1995), 102.21 (1994); German
deutsche marks (DM) per US$--1.69 (January 1999), 1.9692 (1998),
1.7341 (1997), 1.5048 (1996), 1.4331 (1995), 1.6228 (1994); Euro per
US$--0.8597 (January 1999)

Fiscal year: 1 October--30 September

Communications

Telephones: 182.558 million (1987 est.)

Telephone system:
domestic: a large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio
relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries conventional
telephone traffic; a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile
telephone t