The economy in Cambodia has been growing at a slow pace. The economy is primarily dependent on agriculture and tourism. The country’s major exports include timber, rubber and footwear.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The country’s GDP for the year 2010 is estimated at KHR 47,680 billion in 2010 as compared to KHR 43,080 billion in 2009.

(Source: mef.gov)

Real GDP growth rate

The GDP growth rate in 2010 is estimated at 5.5% as compared to 0.1% in 2009. The GDP growth has been on the decline since 2005, when it was registered at 13.3%.

(Source: mef.gov)

Gross National Income (GNI) per capita

The country’s GNI per capita at PPP for the year 2010 is USD 1,868 as compared to USD 1,511 for 2005.

(Source: UNDP)

Income tax

The highest tax rate on individual income in Cambodia is 20%.

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Corporate tax

Standard corporate tax in Cambodia is 20% and Value Added Tax (VAT) is 10%.

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Inflation Rate

Inflation rate in Cambodia for the year 2010 is estimated at 6% as compared to -0.6% in 2009. The monthly inflation rate in November 2010 was recorded at -1.05%.

(Source: mef.gov, nbc.org)

FDI Inflow

The foreign direct investment inflow for 2009 registered at USD 514.7 million, a decline by 35.2% over FDI inflow in 2008.

(Source:nbc.org)

Banking sector assets

The total banking sector assets at the end of 2009 was USD 4,996 million as compared to USD 4,165 million in 2008.

(Source: nbc.org)

Consumer Price Index

The consumer price index in Cambodia is on a steady rise. The CPI for November 2010 was registered at 139.93 as compared to 134.15 in November 2009.

Base, (Oct-Dec. 2006 = 100)

(Source: nbc.org, nbc.org, nbc.org, nbc.org)

Interest rates

Interest Rates on Savings Deposits (%)
	November 2010	December 2009	December 2008	December 2007
Saving deposits	1.15	1.22	2.05	1.90

(Source:nbc.org)

 

Interest Rate on Time deposits, November 2010 (%)
1 Month	3.10
3 Months	4.48
6 Months	5.48
12 Months	6.58

(Source:nbc.org)

Money supply (Currency in Circulation)

(Source: nbc.org.kh)

Government Expenditure

The government expenditure for 2010 is estimated at KHR 8,919 billion as compared to KHR 8,556 billion in 2009.

(Source: mef.gov)

Official exchange rate

KHR per USD rate for September 2010 was registered at 4,233. In 2009, exchange rate KHR per USD was 4,180 as compared to 4,080 in 2008.

(Source: mef.gov)

Government finances

Fiscal balance

In 2010, the fiscal balance reported a deficit of KHR 2,409 billion as compared to deficit of KHR 1,985.00 in 2009. Fiscal deficit for the year 2010 is estimated at 1.4% of the GDP.

(Source: mef.gov, mef.gov)

Total Revenue

The total revenues for the year 2010 are estimated at KHR 6,292 billion as compared to KHR 5,081 billion in 2009.

(Source:mef.gov)

Tax revenue

Tax revenues in Cambodia for 2010 amounted at KHR 4,840.6 billion as compared to KHR 4,276.95 billion in 2009.

(Source:mef.gov, mef.gov)

Current Account Balance

The current account balance in the year 2010 is estimated at -9.2% of the GDP as compared to -10.1% in 2009.

(Source: mef.gov)

Balance of Payments

In 2009, the balance of payment registered surplus of USD 70.2 million on overall balance, a decreased by 79.7% as compared to previous year.

(Source: nbc.org.kh)

Labour force

The labour force in Cambodia was recorded 7.53 million people in 2008. This is an increase of about 3.7% from the previous year’s 7.32 million labour population.

(Source: World Bank)

Cambodia’s government system is based on Constitutional Monarchy. The Monarch is the head of the state and the Prime Minister is the head of government.

The Prime Minister is a representative of the ruling party and is appointed by the Monarch on the recommendation of the President and Vice Presidents of the National Assembly. The Prime Minister appoints a Council of Ministers.

The country’s parliament is bicameral and is comprised of two branches – the National Assembly and the Senate. The National Assembly has a statutory requirement of 123 members, who are directly elected for a term of five years. The Senate is comprised of 61 members, of whom 57 are elected by the Commune/Sangkat Councillors, two are elected by the National Assembly and the remaining two are appointed by the King.

Few of the major political parties in Cambodia are:

•          Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP)
•          Cambodian People's Party (CPP)
•          National United Front for an Independent
•          Human Rights Party (HRP)
•         Sam Rainsy Party (SRP)
•          Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia

(Source: BBC, fco.gov.uk, IPU)

Regulatory Environment

The executive powers are vested with the government and the legislative powers are exercised through the parliament.

Cambodia is ranked 102^nd in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, with a score of 57.9. The country ranks 17^th out of 41 countries in the Asia–Pacific region. Cambodia overall score is higher than the regional average, but lower than the global average.

(Source:Heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Cambodia is ranked 154^th in the 2010 index, indicating that corruption levels in the public departments in the country is fairly high.

Cambodia’s CPI rankings improved since 2009, when it was ranked 158^th with a score of 2.0 indicating the perceived levels of corruption have decreased in the country.

(Source:transparency.org)

Freedom of Information

World Press Freedom Index 2009 ranks Cambodia at 128^th rank with a score of 43.83 indicating the media in Cambodia is restricted. (Source: rsf.org)

Many of the newspapers and private broadcasters are supported by political parties. There have been instances wherein journalists have been imprisoned for spreading false information or insulting public officials.

Newspapers

•          Reaksmei Kampuchea
•          Kaoh Santepheap
•          Cambodia Daily
•          Phnom Penh Post

(Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The judiciary in Cambodia consists of:

•          Supreme Court
•          the Appellate Court
•          Municipal or Provincial Court
•  Military Courts

The Supreme Court is the highest and final court of justice.The courts of first instance include the provincial or municipal courts, the military court and special courts. Special courts include administrative courts, family courts, labour courts and commercial courts. The second instance consist of appellate court which deals with cases appealed from provincial, municipal or military court.

(Source: khmerrough)

According to 2008 census, total population of Cambodia for the year 2008 was recorded at 13,395,682. Of the total population, the male and female population was recorded at 6,516,054 and 6,879,628 respectively.

(Source: cepal)

The gender ratio in the country is imbalanced i.e. there are about 95.8 males for every 100 females in the country.

(Source: UN)

The mortality rate of infants (per 1,000 live births) was registered at 62.3 in the year 2010. In 2008, mortality rate was 8 (per thousand people).

The birth rate (per thousand people) was registered at 25 in the year 2008.

The average life expectancy in Cambodia for males is 59 years and for females it is 62.6 years in 2010.

(Source: UN, World Bank, World Bank)

Majority of the population, 59.97% are in the age group of 15 to 59 years, followed by 33.70% below 14 years of age. The 65 and above age group constitutes 6.33 % of the total population.

(Source:cepal)

International migrant stock till mid 2010 was recorded at 335,800 people. This was approximately 2.2% of the entire population.

(Source: UN)

The urban population in the country grew at an annual rate of 4.6% between the years 2005 and 2010. For the same period, the rural population grew at a slower rate of 1.0% per year.

(Source: UN)

Ethnic groups in Cambodia include:

•          Cambodian (90%)
•          Vietnamese (5%)
•          Chinese (1%)
•          Others (4%)

(Source: state.gov)

The country ranks 124^th out of 169 countries on the Human Development index 2009 conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

(Source: UNDP)

Literacy rate

The country’s adult literacy rate in 2010 is estimated at 78.3%. (Source: UNDP)

Education resources

Education in Cambodia is free, but not compulsory. Education system in Cambodia includes pre-school education, general education, and higher education.

The net enrolment rate for boys and girls in primary school is estimated at 92% and 88% respectively and the enrolment rate in secondary school is 36% for boys and 32% for girls. The gross enrolment in tertiary school is 5.0%.

The expenditure on education is estimated at 1.6% of the GDP in the year 2007.

(Source: estandardsforum.org, UNDP)

Health care resources

The health care facilities in Cambodia are not well developed. In terms of health care resources, the country has 209 dentists and 564 pharmacists, 90 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people, 10 hospital beds per 100,000 people and 20 physicians per 100,000.

The major causes of death include tuberculosis, diabetes, obesity, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. About 0.8% of the population suffers from HIV/AIDS, which is above the regional average for South and Southeast Asia.

In Cambodia, public health expenditure as % of GDP was registered at 1.7%.

The mass public transport in the country is roadways (buses and cabs).

Roadways

The country has 38,093 km of roads out of which 7.8% are paved.

(Source:estandardsforum)

Ports:  The major ports in Cambodia are -Port of Phnom Penh and Port Sihanoukville.

(Source:world port source)

Airports

(Source: Air charter world)

Telecommunications networks

The number of fixed telephone lines in Cambodia has increased from 32,200 in 2004 to 54,200 in 2009 registering a CAGR of 11%. The usage of fixed telephone line has increased from 0.24 per 100 inhabitants in 2004 to 0.37 per 100 inhabitants in 2009.

(Source: ITU)

The number of mobile cellular subscriptions rose from 861,500 in 2004 to 6,268,000. The ratio of mobile cellular subscriptions to fixed telephone lines was 115.6:1, indicating the amount of mobile cellular usage in the country is low as compared to the fixed telephone line usage.

(Source: ITU)

In 2010, 78,000 people i.e. 0.5% of the total population used internet services.

(Source:internetworldstats.com)