Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon's lack of industry raw material and complete dependency on Arab countries for oil has made it difficult for the Lebanese to engage in significant industrial activity. As such, industry in Lebanon is mostly limited to small businesses concerned with reassembling and packaging imported parts. In 1997, industry ranked second in workforce, with 26% of the Lebanese working population, and also second in GDP contribution, with 19% of Lebanon's GDP.

 

The 1975-1990 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern trading center and banking hub.

 

Until the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, Lebanon's economy witnessed excellent growth, with bank assets reaching over 70 billion dollars. Even though Lebanon was down 10% in the tourism sector in 2005, more than 1.2 million tourists visited Lebanon that year. Market capitalization was also at an all time high, amounting to over $7 billion at the end of January 2006.

 

Total GDP: $44.06 billion (2008 est.)

 

GDP Growth Rate: 6.3% (2008 est.)

 

GDP Per Capita: $11,100 (2008 est.)

 

Population: 4,017,095 (July 2009 est.)

 

Population Growth Rate: 1.107% (2009 est.)

 

Fertility Rate: 1.85 children born/woman (2009 est.)

 

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 25.8% (male 528,047/female 506,838)

15-64 years: 67.1% (male 1,294,485/female 1,399,047)

65 years and over: 7.2% (male 130,148/female 158,530)

(2009 est.)

 

Source: CIA World Factbook