industry and agriculture
has made northern Yemen dependent on imports for practically all of
its essential needs. Once self-sufficient in food production, northern
Yemen has become a major importer. Land once used for export crops -
cotton, fruit, and vegetables - has been turned over to growing a
shrub called qat, whose leaves are chewed for their stimulant effect
by Yemenis and which has no significant export market. Economic growth
in former South Yemen has been constrained by a lack of incentives,
partly stemming from centralized control over production decisions,
investment allocation, and import choices. Yemen's GDP has been
supplemented by remittances from Yemenis working abroad and by foreign
aid. Since the Gulf crisis, however, remittances have dropped
substantially. Floods in June 1996 caused the loss of much valuable
topsoil in the agricultural sector, increasing the need for imports of
foodstuffs. Oil production and GDP as a whole are expected to increase
moderately in 1997.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $39.1 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.8% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,900 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 14%
industry: 35%
services : 51%

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 85% (1996 est.)

Labor force: no reliable estimates exist, most people are employed in
agriculture and herding or as expatriate laborers; services,
construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-half of
the labor force

Unemployment rate: 30% (1995 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $3 billion
expenditures: $3.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1996 est.)

Industries: crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale
production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing;
handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - capacity: 810,000 kW (1994)

Electricity - production: 1.84 billion kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 117 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: grain, fruits, vegetables, qat (mildly
narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, poultry, meat; fish

Exports:
total value: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities : crude oil, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables, dried and
salted fish
partners: China 23%, South Korea 19%, Japan 12%, Singapore 10%, Brazil
9%, Thailand 7% (1995)

Imports:
total value: $2.