The 2001 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

failure to achieve monetary and fiscal stability. Burma remains a poor Asian country and living standards for the majority have not improved over the past decade. Short-term growth will continue to be restrained because of poor government planning and minimal foreign investment.

      GDP: purchasing power parity - $63.7 billion (2000 est.)

      GDP - real growth rate: 4.9% (2000 est.)

      GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2000 est.)

      GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 42%

      industry: 17%

      services: 41% (2000 est.)

      Population below poverty line: 23% (1997 est.)

      Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8%

      highest 10%: 32.4% (1998)

      Inflation rate (consumer prices): 18% (1999)

      Labor force: 19.7 million (FY98/99 est.)

      Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 65%, industry 10%, services 25% (1999 est.)

      Unemployment rate: 7.1% (official FY97/98 est.)

      Budget: revenues: $7.9 billion

      expenditures: $12.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion (FY96/97)

      Industries: agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer

      Industrial production growth rate: NA%

      Electricity - production: 4.813 billion kWh (1999)

      Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 68.56%

      hydro: 31.44%

      nuclear: 0%

      other: 0% (1999)

      Electricity - consumption: 4.476 billion kWh (1999)

      Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

      Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

      Agriculture - products: paddy rice, corn, oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; hardwood

      Exports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1999)

      Exports - commodities: apparel 36%, foodstuffs 22%, wood products 21%, precious stones 5% (1999)

      Exports - partners: India 13%, Singapore 11%, China 11%, US 8% (1999 est.)

      note: official trade statistics do not include trade in illicit goods - such as narcotics, teak, and gems - or the largely unrecorded border trade with China and Thailand

      Imports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1999)

      Imports - commodities: machinery, transport equipment, construction materials, food products

      Imports - partners: Singapore 28%, Thailand 12%, China 10%, Japan 10%, South Korea 9% (1999 est.)

      Debt - external: $6 billion (FY99/00 est.)

      Economic aid - recipient: $99 million (FY98/99)

      Currency: kyat (MMK)

      Currency code: MMK

      Exchange rates: kyats per US dollar - official rate - 6.5972 (January 2001), 6.5167 (2000), 6.2858 (1999), 6.3432 (1998), 6.2418 (1997), 5.9176 (1996); kyats per US dollar - black market exchange rate - 435 (yearend 2000)

      Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

      Burma Communications

      Telephones - main lines in use: 250,000 (2000)

      Telephones - mobile cellular: 8,492 (1997)

      Telephone system: general assessment: meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government; international service is good

      domestic: NA

      international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)

      Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 3 (1998)

      Radios: 4.2 million (1997)

      Television broadcast stations: 2 (1998)

      Televisions: 320,000 (2000)

      Internet country code: .mm

      Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1

      note: as of September 2000, Internet connections were legal only for the government, tourist offices, and a few large businesses (2000)

      Internet users: 500 (2000)

      Burma Transportation

      Railways: total: 3,991 km

      narrow gauge: 3,991 km 1.000-m gauge

      Highways: total: 28,200 km

      paved: 3,440 km

      unpaved: 24,760 km (1996)

      Waterways: 12,800 km

      note: 3,200 km navigable by large commercial vessels

      Pipelines: crude oil 1,343 km; natural gas 330 km

      Ports and harbors: Bassein, Bhamo, Chauk, Mandalay, Moulmein,

       Myitkyina, Rangoon, Akyab (Sittwe), Tavoy

      Merchant marine: total: 37 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 411,181 GRT/632,769 DWT

      ships by type: bulk 11, cargo 20, container 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 2

      note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Japan 2 (2000 est.)

      Airports: 80 (2000 est.)

      Airports - with paved runways: total: 9

      over 3,047 m: 3

      2,438 to 3,047 m: 1

      1,524 to 2,437 m: 4

      914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.)

      Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 71

      over 3,047 m: 2

      1,524 to 2,437 m: 15

      914 to 1,523 m: 22

      under 914 m: 32 (2000 est.)

      Heliports: 1 (2000 est.)

      Burma Military

      Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force

      Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

      Military manpower - availability: males age 15–49: 12,050,964

      females age 15–49: 12,070,017

      note: both sexes liable for military service (2001 est.)

      Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15–49: 6,425,514

      females age 15–49: 6,419,677 (2001 est.)

      Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 470,667

      females: 479,691 (2001 est.)

      Military expenditures - dollar figure: $39 million (FY97/98)

      Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.1% (FY97/98)

      Burma Transnational Issues

      Disputes - international: sporadic border hostilities with Thailand over border alignment and ethnic Shan rebels operating in cross-border region

      Illicit drugs: world's second largest producer of illicit opium, after Afghanistan (potential production in 1999 - 1,090 metric tons, down 38% due to drought; cultivation in 1999 - 89,500 hectares, a 31% decline from 1998); surrender of drug warlord KHUN SA's Mong Tai Army in January 1996 was hailed by Rangoon as a major counternarcotics success, but lack of government will