Economy of Eswatini
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2009) |
Currency | |
---|---|
Statistics | |
GDP | |
GDP rank | 159th (nominal) / 157th (PPP) |
GDP growth |
|
GDP per capita | |
GDP by sector | agriculture: 8.77%, industry: 33.8%, services: 53.15% (2019 est.)[3] |
6.1% (2011 est.) | |
Population below poverty line | 69% (2006) |
Labour force | 457,900 (2007) |
Labour force by occupation | agriculture: 70% |
Unemployment | 40% (2006 est.) |
Main industries | Coal mining, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel |
External | |
Exports | $2.049 billion f.o.b. (2011 est.) |
Export goods | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit |
Main export partners |
|
Imports | $2.076 billion f.o.b. (2011 est.) |
Import goods | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals |
Main import partners |
|
Public finances | |
$703.1 million (2011 est.) | |
Revenues | $1.006 billion (2011) |
Expenses | $1.488 billion (2011) |
Economic aid | recipient: $104 million (2001) |
The economy of Eswatini is fairly
Agriculture
Economic growth
Economic growth in Eswatini has lagged behind that of its neighbors. Real GDP growth since 2001 has averaged 2.8 percent, nearly 2 percentage points lower than growth in other
Trade partners
The Swazi economy is very closely linked to the economy of South Africa, from which it receives over 90 percent of its imports and to which it sends about 70 percent of its exports. Eswatini has great resources making a good trading partner. Eswatini's other key trading partners are the United States and the EU, from whom the country has received trade preferences for apparel exports (under the African Growth and Opportunity Act – AGOA – to the US) and for sugar (to the EU). Under these agreements, both apparel and sugar exports did well, with rapid growth and a strong inflow of foreign direct investment. Textile exports grew by over 200 percent between 2000 and 2005 and sugar exports increasing by more than 50 percent over the same period. The continued vibrancy of the export sector is threatened by the removal of trade preferences for textiles, the accession to similar preferences for East Asian countries, and the phasing out of preferential prices for sugar to the EU market. Eswatini will thus have to face the challenge of remaining competitive in a changing global environment. A crucial factor in addressing this challenge is the investment climate. The recently concluded Investment Climate Assessment provides some positive findings in this regard, namely that Eswatini firms are among the most productive in Sub-Saharan Africa, although they are less productive than firms in the most productive middle-income countries in other regions. They compare more favorably with firms from lower middle income countries, but are hampered by inadequate governance arrangements and infrastructure.[citation needed]
Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, and the Republic of South Africa form the
Infrastructure
Eswatini enjoys well-developed road links with South Africa. Eswatini Railways operates its railroads that run east to west and north to south. The older east–west link, called the Goba line, makes it possible to export bulk goods from Eswatini through the Port of Maputo in Mozambique. Until recently, most of Eswatini's imports were shipped through this port. Conflict in Mozambique in the 1980s diverted many Swazi exports to ports in South Africa. A north–south rail link, completed in 1986, provides a connection between the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga) rail network and the South African ports of Richards Bay and Durban. From the mid-1980s foreign investment in the manufacturing sector boosted economic growth rates significantly. Since mid-1985, the depreciated value of the currency has increased the competitiveness of Swazi exports and moderated the growth of imports, generating trade surpluses. During the 1990s, the country often ran small trade deficits.[citation needed]
Sugar industry
The largest export partners of Eswatini and the larger Southern African Development Community (SADC) is the European Union. The SADC is a group of many southern African countries who have banded together in order to try to improve their individual socioeconomic status. In 2014-2015 the sugar production of Eswatini was 680,881 metric tons and of this about 355,000 metric tons of sugar was shipped to the European Union, larger than any other export partner. Another trade partner for Eswatini was the United States where they shipped 34,000 metric tons of sugar in the 2014-2015 year under the Tariff Rate Quota. These numbers are up from past years and continue to rise. The expected output based on the 2015-2016 post forecast predictions are that Eswatini will produce 705,000 metric tons, a new record for the country that can be attributed to an increase in land being available for sugar cultivation. Of this predicted figure about 390,000 metric tons will go to the European Union as part of a new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). This new agreement between the EU and SADC means that members like Eswatini can sell their sugar on a duty-free and quota-free basis.[4]
The quotas that the EU and the United States fill is similar to the Sugar Protocol which began in 1975. The goal of the Sugar Protocol was for the EU to purchase and import specific quantities from countries in Africa, the
Mining
Currently, Eswatini's mineral sector is governed under a policy drawn up prior to Eswatini's independence. In response to the sector's recent decline, a new mining policy is being drafted by consultants, paid for by a grant from China, and legislation to facilitate small-scale mining has also been proposed.[9]
The country's main source of foreign exchange is the Bulembu asbestos mine, however production has hit a steep decline. Diamond, iron ore and gold have also been found in the past, however a lack of investment and development policy has seen the region's potential falter.[9]
Although fewer than 1,000 Swazis are directly employed in the mining sector, many workers from Eswatini processed timber from the country's extensive pine populations for mines in South Africa, and around 10,000–15,000 Swazis were employed in South African mines. Their contributions to Eswatini's economy through wage repatriation have been diminished, though, by the collapse of the international gold market and layoffs in South Africa.[10]
Other economic statistics
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017.[11]
Year | GDP
(in bil. US$ PPP) |
GDP per capita
(in US$ PPP) |
GDP
(in bil. US$ nominal) |
GDP growth (real) |
Inflation (in Percent |
Government debt (Percentage of GDP) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | 0.90 | 1,653 | 0.75 | −3.8 % | 18.2 % | ... |
1985 | 1.50 | 2,359 | 0.50 | 3.8 % | 20.5 % | ... |
1990 | 2.95 | 3,793 | 1.24 | 8.9 % | 13.1 % | ... |
1995 | 3.84 | 4,421 | 1.93 | 4.0 % | 12.3 % | 12 % |
2000 | 4.83 | 5,033 | 1.74 | 2.6 % | 12.2 % | 17 % |
2005 | 6.52 | 6,537 | 3.18 | 5.5 % | 1.8 % | 13 % |
2006 | 7.06 | 7,000 | 3.29 | 5.2 % | 5.2 % | 14 % |
2007 | 7.54 | 7,387 | 3.47 | 3.9 % | 8.1 % | 15 % |
2008 | 7.90 | 7,658 | 3.30 | 2.8 % | 12.7 % | 14 % |
2009 | 8.32 | 7,978 | 3.60 | 4.5 % | 7.4 % | 10 % |
2010 | 8.72 | 8,268 | 4.44 | 3.5 % | 4.5 % | 14 % |
2011 | 9.07 | 8,502 | 4.83 | 2.0 % | 6.1 % | 14 % |
2012 | 9.56 | 8,853 | 4.89 | 3.5 % | 8.9 % | 15 % |
2013 | 10.18 | 9,317 | 4.60 | 3.5 % | 5.6 % | 15 % |
2014 | 10.74 | 9,712 | 4.43 | 3.6 % | 5.7 % | 14 % |
2015 | 10.97 | 9,807 | 4.06 | 1.0 % | 5.0 % | 18 % |
2016 | 11.11 | 9,814 | 3.82 | 0.0 % | 8.0 % | 25 % |
2017 | 11.34 | 9,884 | 4.41 | 0.2 % | 6.3 % | 29 % |
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
1.6%
highest 10%:
40.7% (2001)
Industrial production growth rate: 1% (2001 est.)
Electricity – production: 470 GWh (2008), 420 GWh (1998)
Electricity – consumption: 1,207 GWh (2008), 962.9 GWh (2001), 1.078 GWh (1998)
Electricity – exports: 0 kWh (2009, 2001, 1998)
Electricity – imports:
768 GWh (2009), 639 GWh (2001), 687 GWh (1998)
note:
imports about 60% of its electricity from South Africa (2009)
Currency: 1 lilangeni (E) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: emalangeni (E) per US$1 – 7.3 (2011), 7.32 (2010), 8.42 (2009), 7.75 (2008), 7.4 (2007), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000), 6.1087 (1999), 5.4807 (1998), 4.6032 (1997), 4.2706 (1996), 3.6266 (1995); note – the
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ "Global Economic Prospects, June 2019: Heightened Tensions, Subdued Investment. p. 127" (PDF). openknowledge.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ "Swaziland: Distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors from 2009 to 2019". statista.com. Statista. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ^ a b c "Swaziland Sugar Annual Report 2014-2015" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
- ^ "World CIA Factbook, "Eswatini: Economy"". 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Mbendi Information Service, ["Sugarcane Farming in Swaziland"". Archived from the original on 18 May 2016.
- ^ "Delegation of the European Union: 'Sugar Protocol'".
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2007/09/070928_sugarprotocol.shtml BBC Caribbean: 'Sugar Protocol Scrapped']
- ^ a b "Mbendi Information Services, "Mining in Swaziland - Overview", Mbendi Information Services". Archived from the original on 8 December 2000.
- ^ "Encyclopedia of the Nations, "Swaziland - Mining", Encyclopedia of the Nations'".
- ^ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". Retrieved 2018-09-11.