Swaziland Economic Indicators

GDP (purchasing power parity):

• $11.06 billion (2016 est.) $11.01 billion (2015 est.) $10.83 billion (2014 est.)

  GDP (official exchange rate):

• $3.43 billion (2015 est.)

   

  GDP - real growth rate:

• 0.5% (2016 est.) 1.7% (2015 est.) 2.5% (2014 est.)

   

  GDP - per capita:

• $9,800 (2016 est.) $9,800 (2015 est.) $9,800 (2014 est.)

   

  Gross national saving:

• 4.5% of GDP (2016 est.) 18.1% of GDP (2015 est.) 12.4% of GDP (2014 est.)

   

  GDP - composition, by end use (2016 est.):

• household consumption: 74.7%
• government consumption: 21.4%
• investment in fixed capital: 14.6%
• investment in inventories: -0.1%
• exports of goods and services: 34.5%
• imports of goods and services: -45.2%

 

GDP - composition, by sector of origin (2016 est.):

• agriculture: 5.8%
• industry: 44.5%
• services: 49.7%

 

Agriculture - products:

• sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep

Industries:

• coal, forestry, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textiles and apparel

   

  Industrial production growth rate:

• 2.8% (2016 est.)

   

  Labor force:

• 446,100 (2013 est.)

   

  Labor force - by occupation:

• agriculture: 70%

   

  Unemployment rate:

• 40% (2016 est.)

   

  Population below poverty line:

• 69% (2016 est.)

   

  Household income or consumption by percentage share (2010 est.):

• lowest 10%: 1.7%
• highest 10%: 40.1%

Budget (2016 est.):

• revenues: $866.9 million
• expenditures: $1.195 billion

 

Taxes and other revenues (2016 est.):

• 25.3% of GDP

   

  Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) (2016 est.):

• •-9.6% of GDP

   

  Fiscal year:

• 1 April - 31 March

   

  Inflation rate (consumer prices):

• 8.8% (2016 est.) 5% (2015 est.)

   

  Central bank discount rate:

• 6.5% (31 December 2010) 6.5% (31 December 2009)

   

  Commercial bank prime lending rate:

• 10.6% (31 December 2016 est.) 9.04% (31 December 2015 est.)

   

  Stock of narrow money:

• $236.6 million (31 December 2016 est.) $304.6 million (31 December 2015 est.)

   

  Stock of broad money:

• $825.6 million (31 December 2015 est.) $1.008 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

   

  Stock of domestic credit:

• $511.2 million (31 December 2016 est.) $557.8 million (31 December 2015 est.)

   

  Current account balance:

• •-$167 million (2016 est.) $370 million (2015 est.)

   

  Exports:

• $1.717 billion (2016 est.) $1.763 billion (2015 est.)

   

  Exports - commodities:

• soft drink concentrates, sugar, timber, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit

   

  Imports:

• $1.655 billion (2016 est.) $1.603 billion (2015 est.)

   

  Imports - commodities:

• motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals

   

  Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

• $603.9 million (31 December 2016 est.) $548 million (31 December 2015 est.)

   

  Debt - external:

• $470.5 million (31 December 2016 est.) $440.1 million (31 December 2015 est.)

   

  Exchange rates:

• Emalangeni per US dollar - 16.15 (2016 est.) 12.7581 (2015 est.) 12.7581 (2014 est.) 10.8469 (2013 est.) 8.2 (2012 est.)

 

 

Monetary and banking system

The local currency: Emalangeni and it is linked to the South African Rand, which is roughly equivalent to 1 US dollar = 13.5 Emalangeni. The local currency is volatile for its association with the South African Rand and is inconsistent with high inflation rates and lack of purchasing power.

The Central Bank of Swaziland was established in 1974 and headquartered in Mbabane, the Bank's mission is to enhance monetary stability and strengthen the stability of the financial system. The Bank's responsibilities include managing the foreign exchange in Swaziland and protecting the country's foreign exchange reserves.

The commercial banking system in Swaziland consists of NedBank (Swaziland), Standard bank Swaziland, First National Bank (Swaziland) and all the above-mentioned banks are South African commercial banks. First National Bank and Standard Bank of Swaziland are continuing to provide online banking services along with traditional banking services. NedBank (Swaziland) is the sole provider of microfinance services, the bank is listed on the National Stock Exchange and is partially owned by the government. The Swaziland government has a small share of Standard bank (Swaziland). National banking institutions are few compared to those coming from South Africa, and they are - Swaziland Development and Savings Bank and Swaziland Building Society, the latter is the main provider of long-term mortgage service.