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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Turkmenistan
Index
Turkmenistan's economy is predominantly agricultural. Agriculture
accounts for almost half of the gross domestic product (GDP--see Glossary)
and more than two-fifths of total employment, whereas industry accounts
for about one-fifth of GDP and slightly more than one-tenth of total
employment. In 1988 the per capita net material product (NMP--see
Glossary) output was 61 percent of the Soviet average, fourth lowest of
the Soviet republics. In 1991, 17.2 percent of the work force was engaged
in private-sector occupations such as farming, individual endeavors, and
employment on agreement; 0.7 percent worked in rented enterprises, and the
rest worked for state enterprises, social organizations, and collective
farms.
Macroeconomic indicators of the performance of Turkmenistan's national
economy have differed widely in the late Soviet and early independence
years, making precise assessment difficult. According to one source, the
per capita GDP was US$2,509 in 1992, placing it higher than Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan, but lower than Kazakstan and much lower than some of the other
former Soviet republics. Another source lists a 17 percent increase in
industrial output between 1991 and 1992. On the other hand, several
sources agree that the NMP aggregate figure for 1992 was a 15 percent
decline from the previous year (see table 6, Appendix). One source claims
that GDP in Turkmenistan increased by 8.5 percent in 1993, while another
regards as suspect the statistical methods applied to the data on which
this figure is based.
Data as of March 1996
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