Somalia Economic Statistics and Indicators

21, Nov 2019, EST. Welcome to the Somalia economic statistics pages provided by the beta version of EconomyWatch.com's Econ Stats database.

Economic Indicators For: Somalia › Change country
National or Regional Currency: Somali Shilling, SOS
Year of data: 2015 › Change year
Number of Indicators Listed:
Full Dataset: From Year 1980 to 2019
Date of Last Update: 17th March 2015
Population: 10,428,043 ; note: this estimate was derived from an official census taken in 1975 by the Somali Government; population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine and clan warfare (July 2014 est.)
Area: total: 637,657 sq km ; land: 627,337 sq km ; water: 10,320 sq km
Natural Resources: uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt, natural gas, likely oil reserves
Capital: name: Mogadishu ; geographic coordinates: 2 04 N, 45 20 E ; time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

Despite the lack of effective national governance, Somalia maintains an informal economy largely based on livestock, remittance/money transfer companies, and telecommunications. Agriculture is the most important sector with livestock normally accounting for about 40% of GDP and more than 50% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-pastoralists, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. Livestock, hides, fish, charcoal, and bananas are Somalia's principal exports, while sugar, sorghum, corn, qat, and machined goods are the principal imports. Somalia's small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, has largely been looted and the machinery sold as scrap metal. Telecommunication firms provide wireless services in most major cities and offer the lowest international call rates on the continent. Mogadishu's main market offers a variety of goods from food to electronic gadgets. Hotels continue to operate and are supported with private-security militias. Somalia's government lacks the ability to collect domestic revenue, and arrears to the IMF have continued to grow. Somalia's capital city - Mogadishu - has witnessed the development of the city's first gas stations, supermarkets, and flights between Europe (Istanbul-Mogadishu) since the collapse of central authority in 1991. This economic growth has yet to expand outside of Mogadishu, and within the city, security concerns dominate business. In the absence of a formal banking sector, money transfer/remittance services have sprouted throughout the country, handling up to $1.6 billion in remittances annually, although international concerns over the money transfers into Somalia currently threatens these services.
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