Yemen

Yemen is an agricultural country, with a 20% share of GDP. The oil industry provides about 75% of foreign exchange earnings. Remittances from Yemenis, mainly working in Saudi Arabia, and external economic assistance are important.

The main industries are oil and oil refining, textile, food, cement. There are small aluminum factories. Transport is mainly by road and sea. Seaports: Aden, Hodeidah, Moha, Salif, Mukalla.

Agriculture remains the most important sector of the economy. Own production does not meet the need for food; most of the food is imported. About 1/3 of the country's territory is suitable for use, but crop production is possible only in 3% of the territory (about 65% of them are cultivated). The main export crop is coffee (the main varieties are mocha and hodeida).

In desert areas, agriculture is possible only in oases; in Wadi Hadramaut, the oases of Tarim, Sayoun and Al-Gayda, the main date palm plantations are concentrated; cereals (millet, wheat, barley), cotton, sesame, tobacco, vegetables and fruits are also cultivated.

The leading branches of animal husbandry (developed almost everywhere) are cattle breeding and poultry farming; camels are bred in the desert eastern regions.

Fishing plays an important role. There are 120 fishing cooperatives, which employ about 50 thousand people. Dried and salted fish is one of the important export items. Pearl mining is underway (the Red Sea coast).

The largest industrial enterprises are mainly state-owned or joint-stock owned with mixed capital. The food industry mainly uses imported raw materials, and is the second largest industry in terms of production, second only to the cement industry. The oil refinery in Aden is the largest modern enterprise in the southern part of the country. There are also enterprises in Yemen that produce textiles, plastics, salt and paint.

Oil production is underway in the country. The development of deposits and the export of hydrocarbons were significantly reduced after the outbreak of the civil war in 2001-2015.

Cobalt, copper and nickel reserves are located in three locations in Al-Masnaa, Suwar and Wadi Qutabah in northeastern Yemen; 40 gold and silver deposits have been discovered, but their extraction currently requires foreign investment. The Al-Harika gold deposit in the north-west of Sanaa has a significant reserve. Gold deposits also exist in the Medden area, its reserves are estimated at 678,000 tons of ore, with an average yield of 15 grams of gold and 11 grams of silver per ton.

Power plants powered exclusively by fossil fuels generate 3 billion kWh of electricity per year. Currently, less than a third of families in Yemen have access to electricity.

In 2016, Yemen exported goods worth 898 million US dollars, and imported 6.69 billion US dollars, with a negative foreign trade balance of 5.79 billion US dollars.

The main export products are gold, crude oil, fish and seafood, coffee, cotton. Main buyers: Oman, UAE, China.

The main imported goods are food (mainly grain, sugar, meat and oilseeds), medicines, petroleum products, machinery and equipment, and timber. Main suppliers: China, Turkey, Oman, India, Russia.