Economy - overview:
Tajikistan has one of the lowest per capita GDPs among the 15 former Soviet republics. Because of a lack of employment opportunities in Tajikistan, nearly half of the labor force works abroad, primarily in Russia, supporting families in Tajikistan through remittances. The exact number of labor migrants is unknown, but estimated at around 1 million. Only 7% of the land area is arable. Cotton is the most important crop, but this sector is burdened with debt and an obsolete infrastructure. Mineral resources include silver, gold, uranium, and tungsten. Industry consists only of a large aluminum plant, hydropower facilities, and small obsolete factories mostly in light industry and food processing. The civil war (1992-97) severely damaged the already weak economic infrastructure and caused a sharp decline in industrial and agricultural production. Tajikistan's economic situation remains fragile due to uneven implementation of structural reforms, corruption, weak governance, widespread unemployment, seasonal power shortages, and the external debt burden. A debt restructuring agreement was reached with Russia in December 2002 including a $250 million write-off of Tajikistan's $300 million debt. Completion of the Sangtuda I hydropower dam - built with Russian investment - and the Sangtuda II and Rogun dams will add substantially to electricity output. If finished according to Tajik plans, Rogun will be the world's tallest dam. Tajikistan has also received substantial infrastructure development loans from the Chinese government to improve roads and an electricity transmission network. To help increase north-south trade, the US funded a $36 million bridge which opened in August 2007 and links Tajikistan and Afghanistan. While, Tajikistan has experienced steady economic growth since 1997, nearly two-thirds of the population continues to live in poverty. Economic growth reached 10.6% in 2004, but dropped to roughly 8% in 2005-07, and 4.5% in 2008, as the effects of the international financial crisis began to register - mainly in the form of lower prices for key commodities and lower remittances from Tajiks working in Russia, due to the declining economic conditions in that country.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$15.4 billion (2008 est.)
$14.27 billion (2007)
$11.32 billion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate):
$4.788 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
7.9% (2008 est.)
7.8% (2007 est.)
7% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita:
$2,100 (2008 est.)
$1,700 (2007 est.)
$1,600 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 23%
industry: 29.4%
services: 47.6% (2008 est.)

Labor force:
2.1 million (2008)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 67.2%
industry: 7.5%
services: 25.3% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate:
2.3% official rate; actual unemployment is higher (2008 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 25.6% (2007 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
32.6 (2006)

Investment (gross fixed):
20% of GDP (2008 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.28 billion
expenditures: $1.3 billion (2008 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
11.8% (2008)

Central bank discount rate:
13.5% (30 September 2008)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:
23.1% (31 December 2008)

Stock of money:
$330 million (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:
$544 million (31 December 2008)

Stock of domestic credit:
$889 million (31 December 2008)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA

Agriculture - products:
cotton, grain, fruits, grapes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats

Industries:
aluminum, zinc, lead; chemicals and fertilizers, cement, vegetable oil, metal-cutting machine tools, refrigerators and freezers

Industrial production growth rate:
4% (2008)

Electricity - production:
14.8 billion kWh (2008)

Electricity - consumption:
17.8 billion kWh (2008)

Electricity - exports:
1 billion kWh (2008 est.)

Electricity - imports:
3 billion kWh (2008 est.)

Oil - production:
503 bbl/day (2008)

Oil - consumption:
10,600 bbl/day (2008)

Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
10,100 bbl/day (2008)

Oil - proved reserves:
12 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production:
16 million cu m (2008)

Natural gas - consumption:
542.7 million cu m (2008)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2008)

Natural gas - imports:
512.7 million cu m (2008)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
5.663 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:
-$1.8 billion (2008)

Exports:
$1.4 billion f.o.b. (2008)

Exports - commodities:
aluminum, electricity, cotton, fruits, vegetable oil, textiles

Exports - partners:
Netherlands 38.9%, Turkey 32.5%, Russia 6.6%, Uzbekistan 5.9%, Iran 5.1% (2007)

Imports:
$3.2 billion f.o.b. (2008)

Imports - commodities:
electricity, petroleum products, aluminum oxide, machinery and equipment, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
Russia 32.1%, Kazakhstan 13.1%, China 10.8%, Uzbekistan 8.4% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$220 million (31 December 2008)

Debt - external:
$1.37 billion (31 December 2008)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$88 million (2008 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
NA