Gross domestic product

Yemen's gross domestic product (GDP) at market price was YER 6,069.59 billion in 2009, compared to YER 6,203.05 billion in 2008.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Yemen's GDP growth rate has continually risen since 2000. In 2009, the growth rate decreased to -2.15%.

Gross national income

Total gross national income (GNI) of the country was USD 25,025.52 million for 2009, increasing 13.91% over the previous year.

(Source: World Bank)

GNI per capita, PPP

 The GNI per capita at PPP was USD 2,387 for 2010, as compared to USD 2,159 in 2005.

(Source: UNDP)

Income tax rates

In Yemen, the top income tax rate for salaried residents is 20%.

(Source: heritage.org)

Corporate tax

The highest corporate tax rate in the country is 35% and there are plans to reduce it to 20% in the future.

 

Tax contribution	Total tax rate (% profit)
Corporate income tax	35.1
Religious or business practicing tax	0.7
Social security contributions	10.2
Municipal business tax	0.4
Transport tax	0.3

(Source: doingbusiness.org, heritage.org)

Inflation rate

In 2010, Yemen's inflation rate dropped to 10.81%, compared to 10.98% in 2009.

 

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow

In 2009, total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow was YER 335,500 million, which declined by 28% over the previous year.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Portfolio investment

Yemen's net portfolio investment was YER 8,800 million in 2009, compared to YER 49,700 million in 2008.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Banking sector assets

Central Bank of Yemen's total assets were YER 1,800 billion for 2009, declined by 0.5% over the previous year.

 

Total assets - Central Bank of Yemen (YER billion)
	2009	2008
Total assets	1,856.76	1,865.19
Other assets	9.13	40.03
Fixed assets	3.60	3.620
Loans and advances	408.81	189.40
Foreign assets	1,435.21	1,632.12

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

 

Consumer price index (CPI)

Based on December 2008 = 100

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Interest rates on saving deposits

The minimum interest rates by banks and financial institution on saving deposits are 12%.

(Source: Central Bank)

Interest rates on time deposits

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Money supply (currency in circulation)

Yemen's total money supply was YER 2,000 billion in 2009 compared to YER 1,900 billion in 2008.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Government expenditure

Yemen's total government expenditure was YER 1,872,223 million in 2009, and declined by 16.72% over the previous year.

 

Expenditure of Government of Yemen (YER million)
	2009	2008
total expenditure	1,872,223	2,248,166
current expenditures	1,447,340	1,836,690
workers wages and compensations	559,057	577,981
Use of goods,  services and properties	319,431	319,431
subsidies, grants and social benefits	568,852	940,416
unclassified current expenditures	29,203	29,809
Capital and investment expenditures	297,928	300,420
acquisition of  non-financial Assets	297,928	300,420
current expenditures	97,752	81,247

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Public sector debt

Total domestic public sector debt in  2009 was 21% of the GDP, as compared to 12.5% in 2008. External public debt in 2009 was 20.6% of the GDP compared to 19% in 2008.

(Source: Central Bank)

Official exchange rate

Yemen's average annual exchange rate, Riyals to United States dollar was 200.08 in 2008.

(Source: UN,World Bank)

Government finances

Fiscal balance

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Fiscal balance for 2009 was YER 524.07 billion. 

Total revenue

The country's revenue in 2009 was recorded at YER 1,348 billion, declined by 34% from the previous year.

 

Revenue of government of Yemen (YER billion)
	2009	2008
Total revenue	1,348.15	2,027.78
Tax revenues	406.01	371.43
Grants	20.71	14.19
Revenues of property income, and sales of goods, services and various transfers	854.96	1,606.93
Sales of non-financial assets.	0.36	0.68
Assets and liabilities revenue	66.09	34.53

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Tax revenue

Yemen's total tax revenue in 2009 was YER 406,000 million, which has grown by 9% over the previous year. 

Total Tax Revenue of Government of Yemen (YER billion)
	2009	2008
Total revenue	406,019	371,434
Direct taxes	210,831	202,955
Zakat revenues	9,763	9,852
Taxes on income, profits and capital gains	200,737	192,845
Taxes on salaries and wages of the labour force	43	31
Taxes on properties	288	227
Indirect taxes	195,188	168,479
Taxes on goods and services	138,554	119,548
Taxes on international trade and transactions	56,634	48,931

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Total grants

Total grants received by Yemen in 2009 were YER 21 billion, which grew by 46% over the previous year.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Current account balance - surplus/deficit

In 2009, the country’s current account deficit amounted to YER 513million as compared to a deficit of YER 250 billion in 2008.

(Source: IMF)

Balance of payments

Balance of payments (YER billion)
	2009	2008
Current account	-513.49	-250,250
Capital and financial account	-62.430	359,600
Errors and omissions	317.65	11.390
Overall balance	-258.27	120.760

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

 

The country’s total labour force in 2009 was 5.43 million, increasing 2.46% over the previous year. Males accounted for 88.4% of the total labour force, as compared to 11.6% for females. Of the total labour force, 85.4% were employed and 14.6% unemployed.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

The unemployment rate in the country was 14.6% in 2009, as compared to 15% in 2008.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Total labour force participation rate was 42.3% in 2009, compared to 42.8% in the previous year. Labour force participation rate for males was 73.7% and for females 10% in 2009.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Minimum wage

Minimum wages for a 19 year old worker or an apprentice is approximately USD 99.1 per month.

(Source: doingbuiness.org)

Level of unionisation

Yemen follows a single trade union system and all unions in the country belong to the General Federation of Workers Trade Unions of Yemen.

There are many restrictions imposed on trade unions.

 (Source: UNHCR)

Yemen is a Republic, that consists of a legislative branch, an executive branch and a judiciary branch.

The legislative branch is the parliament which is bicameral. The two chambers of parliament are the House of Representatives and the Consultative Council or Majlis Alshoora. The House of Representatives has 301 seats and the members are elected by people. The Consultative Council has 111 members who are appointed by the President.

The executive branch is comprised of the president, vice-president, prime minister and deputy prime ministers. The president is elected by the people for a 7-year term. The president elects the vice-president, prime minister and deputy prime ministers. The Council of Ministers is also appointed by the president but with the advice of the prime minister.

(Source: yemen-nic)

Political parties active in the country include:

• General People's Congress
• Islah Party
• Yemeni Socialist Party

(Source: state.gov)

In 2011, thousands of Yemeni citizens have been protesting for weeks with the demand that current President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years, step down. The president has rejected the offer to step down by the end of 2011, however, he would not be participating in the next elections due in 2013.

Regulatory environment in Yemen

The president is the head of the state and is elected by people. The president and ministry of council exercise the executive powers on behalf of people. The president has the rights to call referendum, nominate the head of the National Defence Council, approve laws, supervise the government policy and execute the implementation in a set manner.

The House of Representative has the right to decide laws, approve the general policy of the state, general plans of economic and social development, and approve general budget and final accounts.  The House of Representative also exercises the control over the executive body in a prescribed manner.

The Council of Minister has the right to participate in the preparation of external and internal policy with the president, prepare economic plan for the state and annual budget, and prepare law, resolution.    

(Source: yemen-nic)

(Source:Heritage.org)

The country’s economic freedom score is 54.2, making its economy the 127th freest in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. Yemen ranks 13^th out of 17 regional countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Corruption perception

Yemen was placed at 146^th position on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2010, with a score of 2.2. The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide.

(Source: transparency.org)

Freedom of information

Media in Yemen is restricted. Broadcasting through the public corporation is controlled by the Ministry of Information. Most printing presses are also controlled by the Ministry of Information.

Yemen was ranked 170^th in the world Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 82.13, indicating that media in the country was restricted.

(Source: rsf.org)

Newspapers

• Al-Thawrah
• Yemen Times         
• Yemen Observer
• Al-Ayyam

(Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The judiciary in Yemen consists of:

• Supreme Court
• Appellate courts
• Courts of First Instance

The Supreme Court is the highest court of justice. The high court consists of chairman and deputy judges, who are nominated by the President of the country.

(Source: countrystudies.us)

Population

Total projected population of the country for 2010 is 23.15 million, compared to 21.8 million in 2009. In 2009, males and females accounted for 50.9% and 49.1% of the total population respectively.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Gender ratio

The gender ratio in the country is slightly imbalanced with 103.8 males per 100 females.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

In 2009, 53.9% of the population was in the age group of 15 to 64 years, followed by 42.8% below 15 years and 3.2% was in the age group of above 65 years.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Mortality rate

Total mortality rate in the country was 8.9 deaths per 1000 population in the period 2005 to 2010. The infant mortality rate in Yemen was 72.1 deaths per 1000 live births in the period 2005 to 2010.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Birth rate

The birth rate in the country was 37.9 births per 1000 population in the period 2005 to 2010.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Average life expectancy rate

Average life expectancy rate at birth for males was 61.1 years, whereas for females was 62.9 years in the period of 2005 to 2010.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Migration

In the mid of 2010, 51700 people migrated from Yemen, which accounted for 2.1% of the total population.

(Source: UN)

Human development index (HDI)

The country was placed at 133^rd 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)

The adult literacy rate in Yemen was 63.2% in 2010 as compared to 61.8% in 2009.

(Source: UNDP)

Educational resources

The country has various educational institutes including basic schools, secondary schools and universities. The nation has 11,513 public basic schools and 303 private basics schools. Yemen has 311 public secondary schools and 10 private secondary schools. There were 78,482 teachers in public basic and secondary schools, whereas 6,158 teachers in private basic and secondary schools.

In 2009, YER 342,076 million from the total government expenditure were spent on the education sector.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Healthcare

The nation had 10,454 government hospitals and 166 private hospitals in 2009. There were 16,095 hospital beds in the country and 1,397 inhabitants per bed in 2009. The country had 6,468 physicians, 587 dentist and 12,211 nurses in 2009.

In 2009, YER 111,900 million of the total government expenditure was spent on the health care sector.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

The mass public transport in the country is primarily dependent on roadways. Total length of asphalt roads was 15,328.7 km in 009.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)

Ports

The ports in the country include Port of Saleef, Ras Isa Marine Terminal, Port of Hodeidah, Port of Mokha, Port of Aden, Port of Mukalla, Ash Shihr Terminal and Port of Nishtun.

(Source:world port source)

Airports

(Source: Air charter world)

Telecommunications networks

The country had 996,981 local telephone subscribers and 107,993 international telephone subscribers in 2009. There were 8,312,773 cellular phone subscribers in 2009.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)  

In 2009, the country has 2.26 million internet users, which was 10.05% of the total population.

(Source: Statistics Yemen)