such accord between the
EU and Mediterranean countries to be activated. Under the agreement
Tunisia will gradually remove barriers to trade with the EU over the
next decade. Broader privatization, further liberalization of the
investment code to increase foreign investment, and improvements in
government efficiency are among the challenges for the future.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $52.6 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 6% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,500 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 12%
industry: 28%
services: 60% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: 14.1% (1990 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 30.7% (1990)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.7% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 3 million (1997 est.)
note: shortage of skilled labor

Labor force - by occupation: services 55%, industry 23%, agriculture
22% (1995 est.)

Unemployment rate: 16.5% (1999 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $5.1 billion
expenditures: $5.8 billion, including capital expenditures to $1.6
billion (1999 est.)

Industries: petroleum, mining (particularly phosphate and iron ore),
tourism, textiles, footwear, food, beverages

Industrial production growth rate: 8% (1998 est.)

Electricity - production: 7.94 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 99.5%
hydro: 0.5%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 7.549 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 165 million kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: olives, grain, dairy products, tomatoes,
citrus fruit, beef, sugar beets, dates, almonds

Exports: $5.8 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Exports - commodities: textiles, mechanical goods, phosphates and
chemicals, agricultural products, hydrocarbons

Exports - partners: France 27%, Italy 22%, Germany 15%, Belgium 6%,
Libya 4% (1998)

Imports: $8.3 billion (c.i.f., 1999 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, hydrocarbons,
chemicals, fuel, food

Imports - partners: France 27%, Italy 20%, Germany 12%, Spain 4%,
Belgium 4%, US 4% (1998)

Debt - external: $12.1 billion (1999 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $933.2 million (1995); note - ODA, $90
million (1998 est.)

Currency: 1 Tunisian dinar (TD) = 1,000 millimes

Exchange rates: Tunisian dinars (TD) per US$1 - 1.2455 (January 2000),
1.2546 (December 1