Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

In 2009, Syria’s gross domestic product at current prices increased by about 3% compared to the previous year. The country’s GDP in 2009 was SYP 2,519.15 billion as compared to 2,445.06 billion in 2008.

(Source: National Statistics)

(Source: National Statistics, National Bank)

GDP per capita

In 2009, Syria’s GDP per capita was registered at SYP 125,175 as compared to SYP 124,469 in 2009.

(Source: National Statistics)

Gross National Income (GNI)

The gross national income at market prices in 2009 was 2,367.96 billion, whereas GNI at market prices was registered at 2,294.06 billion in 2008.

In 2009, GNI per capita was registered at SYP 117,663 as compared to SYP 116,782 in 2008.

(Source: National Statistics)

Syria’s GNI per capita, at PPP in 2010 was registered at USD 4,760 as compared to USD 4,150 in 2005.

(Source: UNDP)

Tax rates

Individual income tax in Syria is levied at rates ranging from 5% to 22%. Monthly income of up to USD 131 or SYP 6,000 is waived off.

Tax rates for different income slabs are as follows – 

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Corporate tax rates range from 10% to 28%. The tax rates for various types of companies are:

• For joint stock companies – 22%
• For joint stock companies and insurance companies that have 51% of their shares offered to the public – 14%
• For private banks and insurance companies – 25%

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Inflation 

Inflation rate in Syria for 2010 was registered at 4.4% as against 3% in 2009. In 2008, the inflation rate increased as high as 14.8%.

(Source: IMF)

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Foreign direct investment in Syria for 2009 was recorded at SYP 120,024 million.

(Source: National Statistics)

(Source: National Bank)

Portfolio Investment

Portfolio investment inflow in country during 2009 was registered at deficit of SYP 11,258. In 2008 also the country registered deficit in portfolio investment inflow of USD 55 million.

(Source: National Statistics, National Bank)

Central Bank Assets

(Source: National Bank)

Consumer Price Index

Consumer price index (CPI) for the year 2010 was 142 as compared to 136 in 2009.

Base, Year 2005 = 100

(Source: National Bank)

Wholesale Price Index

The wholesale price index in the year 2009 was 145 as compared to 115 in 2008.

Base, Year 2000 = 100

(Source: National Bank)

Interest rates

Interest rates for saving as well as time deposit are as follows –

(Source: National Bank)

Money supply

Broad money (M2) during October 2010 was registered at SYP 1,991,671 million. In 2009, M2 amounted to SYP 1,810,734 million.

(Source: National Bank, National Bank)

Official exchange rate

Official exchange rate of Syrian Pound (SYP) per US Dollar (USD) at the end of October 2010 was 46.5. In 2009, the exchange rate was SYP 46.7 per USD.

(Source: National Bank)

Government finances

Fiscal balance

Syria’s fiscal deficit in the year 2009 amounted to SYP 226,058 million. The total expenditure in 2009 was SYP 685,000 million.

(Source: National Bank)

Total Revenue

The total revenue in 2009 is estimated at SYP 458,942 million as compared to SYP 490,904 million in 2008.

(Source: National Bank)

Tax revenue

Non-oil tax revenue of the government of Syria for 2008 amounted to SYP 258,048 million (10.6% of GDP). Tax revenue increased by 16.5% as compared to 2007. In 2007, the tax revenue was SYP 221,424 million or 11% of GDP.

(Source: National Bank, National Bank)

Total Grants

The country did not receive any foreign grants in the year 2008 and 2009. The total grants received in the year 2007 amounted to SYP 259 million.

(Source: National Bank)

Current Account Balance

The current account balance in the year 2010 is estimated at 3.93% of the GDP as compared to 4.5% in 2009.

(Source: IMF)

Balance of Payments

(Source: National Statistics, National Statistics)

In 2009, labour force in Syria was 5.4 million and remained unchanged from 2008. Number of males and females in labour force during 2009 was 4.6 million and 0.8 million respectively. Labour force in urban areas was recorded at 2.97 million as compared to 2.46 million of labour force in rural areas.

(Source: National Statistics, National Statistics)

Number of economically active population is higher amongst the age group of 25-29 years with 16.2% of total labour force belonging to the particular age group. Economically active population for the age group of 20 to 24 years was registered at 13.2% of total labour force.

(Source: National Statistics)

(Source: National Statistics)

Total labour force participation rate in the country for 2009 was 43%. Labour force participation rate amongst males and females was 45.1% and 8.2% respectively.

(Source: National Statistics)

Total number of employed person in the country during 2009 was 4.99. Of the total employed persons, 4.37 million were males and 6.25 million were females. Number of employees in private sector was 3.55 million as compared to 1.44 million in public sector.

(Source: National Statistics)

Unemployment rate

In 2009, unemployment rate in the country was 8.2%. Total number of unemployed persons in Syria in the year 2009 was 442,953, an increase of 16.6% compared to previous year’s 379,891 unemployed persons.

(Source: National Bank, National Statistics, National Statistics)

(Source: National Bank)

Minimum wage

Average wage in the country is about EUR 178 per month which is 1.8 times of legal minimum wage.

(Source: economistes-arabes.org)

Level of Unionisation

The country’s law restricts free trade union movement in the country. All workers’ organisations are affiliated to the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU). The GFTU is the country’s official trade union federation and controlled by the Ba’th party.

(Source: ituc-csi.org)

Education

The education system is not well developed; the government has not done enough to improve the infrastructure of this neglected sector. The participation and enrolment rates are lower in comparison with other Asian countries.  There are wide disparities among male-female, inter-regional and rural-urban class.

In Pakistan, approximately 22% of females completed their primary schooling, compared with 47% of males. Only 30% of children receive secondary education.

(Source: World Bank)

The government expenditure on education was just 2% of total GNP.

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

The country’s literacy rate for the year 2009 was at 57%.

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Health care

The expenditure on health care sector was 0.5% of the GNP.

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

As of 2007 there were 107,853 doctors in Pakistan; 19,623 were specialists, 7,446 were dentists. The population per doctor was 1,475, per dentist 21,362 and per nurse 3,644.

For the same period, total health facilities were 13,937 and total hospitals were 965. Total beds in hospitals and dispensaries were 105,005. Population per bed was 1,515 and population to health care facility ratio was 11,413.

 (Source: Ministry of Health)

Consumer price index

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Base year 2000-01 = 100

The consumer price index in Pakistan has increased from 140 in 2008 to 159 in 2009, indicating the prices of consumer goods have been increasing.

Interest rates on saving deposits / time deposits

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Money supply (currency in circulation)

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, currency in circulation at the end of June 2010 was PKR 1,295,385 million.

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Government expenditure

Government expenditures in Pakistan increased in 2010 to PKR 2,577 billion to reach PKR 2,101.4 billion in 2009.

 (Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

External debt and domestic debt

Total debt as the percentage of GDP decreased from 66% of 2009 to 65.2% in 2010.

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Official exchange rate

PKR per USD rate for the year 2010 was registered at 83.8. The Pakistani rupee per USD has increased from 59.86 in 2006 to 83.8 in 2010.

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Government financial well-being

Fiscal balance

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Fiscal deficit for 2010 was PKR 525.1 billion which increased from 2009 where it was PKR 422.1 billion.

Total revenue

The country's revenue in 2010 was recorded at PKR 2,051.9 billion, which increased from PKR 1,679.3 billion.

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Tax revenue

Tax revenues in Pakistan in 2010 were PKR 1,483 billion or 10.1% of the GDP.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Current account balance - surplus/deficit

Pakistan has registered current account deficit for the past many years. The current account deficit in 2008 was -8.47% of the GDP after which the deficit was reduced to -5.71% in 2009 and further to -2% in 2010.

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Balance of payments

(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)

Literacy rate

In 2010, the literacy rate of Syria was 84.7%.

(Source: UNDP)

In 2009, the total allocation from the state budget for education was 18.9% or SYP 129.31 billion. Furthermore, the allocation for basic and secondary education was SYP 97.99 billion and for higher education it was SYP 31.32 billion.

(Source: National Statistics)

Total number of basic education schools in 2009 was 16,853, of which 16,386 were state schools and 350 were private schools. The number of secondary schools was 1,762, of which the distribution of private and state secondary schools was 108 and 1,654 respectively.

(Source: National Statistics)

Healthcare system

In 2009, the country had 1,433 health care centres. Of the total health care centres in the country, 1,372 were general healthcare centres and 61 were specialised healthcare centres. The number of polyclinics and medical points were 34 and 270 respectively.

(Source: National Statistics)

The total number of private hospitals in the country is 370, with 8,550 beds, and the number of government hospitals is 121 with 21,910 beds. In 2009, the country had an average of 661 persons per hospital bed.

(Source: National Statistics)

The total population of Pakistan for the year 2010 was 173.51 million, increasing at a rate of about 2.1% over the previous year.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

The gender ratio in the country is imbalanced i.e. there are approximately 106.2 males for every 100 females in the country.

(Source: UN)

(Source: UN)

The mortality rate of infants (per 1,000 live births) was registered at 63.9 for the period 2005-2010.

The crude death rate in 2010 was recorded at 7.4 deaths (per 1,000) and crude birth rate was 28 (per 1,000).

The average life expectancy in 2010 was 64.5 years. The average life expectancy for males was 63.6 years and for females was 65.4 years (2010).

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Population below 14 years of age in the country is 36.9% of the total population (for the year 2009). In 2009, 6.2% women and 6.1% men (% of total population) were aged above 60 years. The median age of the total population was 21.3 years.

International migrant stock to mid-2010 was recorded at 4.2 million people. This was approximately 2.3% of the total population.

(Source: UN)

The latest figures reveal that urban population in the country was 63.05 million and grew at an annual rate of 3.0% between 2005 and 2010. For the same period, the rural population was 110.46 million and grew at a slower rate of 1.2% per year.

(Source: Ministry of Finance, UN)

Ethnic groups in Pakistan include:

• Punjabi
• Sindhi
• Pashtun
• Baloch
• Muhajir
• Saraiki
• Hazara

(Source: state.gov)

The country ranks 125^th out of 169 countries on the Human Development index 2010 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)