Asia and Oceania

Nepal
Last reviewed: 09 September 2009

Country information

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Economy

GDP: US$12.62 billion (2007-08) (Economic Survey 2008).
GDP per head: US$470 (Economic Survey 2008) 3 out of 10 people live on less than a $1 a day.
Annual growth: 5.56% (2007-08 ) - (Economic Survey 2008).
Inflation: 14.5% in Mid November 2008 (Nepal Rastra Bank).
Major industries: Tourism, carpet, textile, small rice, jute, sugar and oilseed mills, cigarettes, cement and brick production.
Major trading partners: India 63%, US, China and Germany.

Nepal is the poorest country in Asia and the fourteenth poorest in the world. Real GDP at producer prices grew by 5.56 (EIU) in fiscal year 2007/08. Prices of consumer items which rose due to rise in food and oil prices have not come down despite the subsequent drop in international prices, resulting in high consumer price inflation. Nepal's power shortage is severe with seasonal outages of up to 16 hours a day. Seventeen foreign carriers now fly to Nepal. 257,181 tourists visited Nepal in the first nine months of 2008, which is a 2% increase over 2007.

The economy is still largely based on agriculture, which employs some 70% of the workforce. The main foreign currency earners are remittances, around US$2 billion annually, from migrant workers, carpet exports (mostly to Germany), garment exports (to the USA) and tourism.