Iraq

Iraq

Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95 percent of foreign exchange earnings.

 

Iraq suffered economic losses from the war with Iran of at least US$100 billion. After hostilities ended in 1988, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities. A combination of low oil prices, repayment of war debts (estimated at around US$3 billion a year) and the costs of reconstruction resulted in a serious financial crisis which was the main short term motivation for the invasion of Kuwait.

 

Iraq was invaded in March 2003 by a US-organized coalition with the stated reasons that it had not abandoned its nuclear and chemical weapons development program according to United Nations resolutions. As a result, Iraq is one of the most unstable economies in the world for the time being.

 

Total GDP: $103.9 billion (2008 est.)

 

GDP Growth Rate: 7.8% (2008 est.)

 

GDP Per Capita: $3,700 (2008 est.)

 

Population: 28,945,657 (July 2009 est.)

 

Population Growth Rate: 2.507% (2009 est.)

 

Fertility Rate: 3.86 children born/woman (2009 est.)

 

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 38.8% (male 5,709,688/female 5,531,359)

15-64 years: 58.2% (male 8,529,956/female 8,310,164)

65 years and over: 3% (male 408,266/female 456,224)

(2009 est.)

 

Source: CIA World Factbook