 | |
| Currency | Nepalese rupee (NPR, रू) |
|---|---|
| 16 July - 15 July | |
Trade organizations | WTO andSAFTA |
Country group |
|
| Statistics | |
| Population |  29,164,578 (2021)[3] |
| GDP | |
GDP growth |
|
GDP per capita | |
GDP by sector |
|
| %[7] | |
Population belowpoverty line |
|
| 32.8medium (2010)[10] | |
Labour force | |
Labour force by occupation |
|
| Unemployment | 12.6% (2022)[6] |
Main industries | tourism, carpets, textiles; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarettes, cement and brick production[6] |
| External | |
| Exports | $3.744 billion (2024-25)[6] |
Export goods | clothing, pulses, carpets, textiles, juice, jute goods[6] |
Main export partners | |
| Imports | $17.78 billion (2024-25)[6] |
Import goods | petroleum products, machinery and equipment, gold, electrical goods, medicine[6] |
Main import partners | |
FDI stock | |
Grossexternal debt |  $11 billion (31 December 2020)[6] |
| Public finances | |
 41.38% of GDP (2021/22)[15] | |
| $19.8 billion (mid-december 2025)[16] | |
| −1% (of GDP) (2022 est.)[6] | |
| Revenues | 10.925 billion (2017 est.)[6] |
| Expenses | 15.945 billion (2017 est.)[6] |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are inUS dollars. | |
Nepal’s economy is largely driven byagriculture,services,industry, andtourism.Agriculture remains the main source of livelihood for most of the population, while the service sector including trade, transport, and communications has become increasingly important. In recent years,hydropower , manufacturing, and information technology have shown growing potential, supported by government efforts to attract investment and improve infrastructure. The country continues to pursue policies aimed at sustainable growth and regional economic integration.
Huge numbers of Small Foreign Investments come to Nepal via theNon Resident Nepali, who are investing in many sectors. Nepal has a huge potential for hydroelectricity. Accordingly, a large number of foreign companies are willing to invest in Nepal, but political instability has stopped the process.Nepal has entered into agreements for avoidance of double taxation (all in credit method) with 10 countries (PSRD) since 2000. Similarly, it hasInvestment protection agreements with 5 countries (PSRD) since 1983. In 2014, Nepal restricted theForeign aid by setting a minimum limit for foreign grants, soft and commercial loans from its development partners.[17]
Nepal's merchandise trade balance has improved somewhat since 2000 with the growth of the carpet and garment industries. In the fiscal year 2000–2001, exports posted a greater increase (14%) than imports (4.5%), helping bring thetrade deficit down by 4% from the previous year to $749 million. Recently, theEuropean Union has become the largest buyer of ready-made garments; fruits and vegetables (mostly apples, pears, tomatoes, various salads, peach, nectarine, potatoes, rice) from Nepal. Exports to the EU accounted for 46.13 percent of the country's garment exports.[18]
The annual monsoon rain strongly influences economic growth. From 1996 to 1999, real GDP growth averaged less than 4%. The growth rate recovered in 1999, rising to 6% before slipping slightly in 2001 to 5.5%.
Strong export performance, including earnings from tourism, and external aid have helped improve the overall balance of payments and increase international reserves. Nepal receives substantial amounts of external assistance from theUnited Kingdom,[19][20][21] theUnited States,Japan,Germany, and theNordic countries.
Several multilateral organisations such as theWorld Bank, theAsian Development Bank, and theUN Development Programme also provide assistance. In June 1998, Nepal submitted its memorandum on a foreign trade regime to theWorld Trade Organization and in May 2000 began direct negotiations on its accession.
Progress has been made in exploiting Nepal's natural resources,tourism, andhydroelectricity. With eight of the world's 10 highest mountain peaks, includingMount Everest at 8,848.86 m. In the early 1990s, one large public sector project and a number of private projects were planned; some have been completed. The most significant private sector financed hydroelectric projects currently in operation are theKhimti Khola (60 MW) and theBhote Koshi Project (36 MW). The project is still undergoing and has dependency on China, India and Japan to take the further steps.
Nepal has 83,000 MW of theoretical and 42,133 MW of technically/financially viable hydroelectric potential, however the total installed capacity, at present, is 2500 MW and increasing.[22]
The environmental impact of Nepal's hydroelectric Own calendar (Bikram Sambat) New year in mid- April projects has been limited by the fact that most are "run-of-the-river" with only one storage project undertaken to date. The largest hydroelectric plant under consideration is theWest Seti Dam (750 MW) storage project dedicated to exports to be built by the private sector. Negotiations with India for apower purchase agreement have been underway for several years, but agreement on pricing and financing remains a problem. Currently demand for electricity is increasing at 8-10% a year whereas Nepal's option to have agreement with India will make this fulfilment against demand. As of June 2022 surplus electricity up to 364 MWp by Nepal is exported to India.[23]
Population pressure on natural resources is increasing. Over-population is already straining the "carrying capacity" of the middle hill areas, particularly the Kathmandu Valley, resulting in the depletion of forest cover for crops, fuel, and fodder and contributing to erosion and flooding. Although steep mountain terrain makes exploitation difficult,mineral surveys have found small deposits oflimestone,magnesite,zinc,copper,iron,mica,lead, andcobalt.Coal mining is also done with 11522 tones produced in 2018 alone.
The development of hydroelectric power projects also cause some tension with local indigenous groups, recently[when?] empowered by Nepal's ratification ofILO Convention 169.[24]
This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Nepal at market pricesestimated by the International Monetary Fund and EconStats with figures in millions of Nepali Rupees.[citation needed]
| Year | Gross domestic product |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 3,870 |
| 1965 | 5,602 |
| 1970 | 8,768 |
| 1975 | 16,571 |
| 1980 | 23,350 |
| 1985 | 46,586 |
| 1990 | 103,415 |
| 1995 | 219,174 |
| 2000 | 379,488 |
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2024.[25]
| Year | GDP (in billion US$ PPP) | GDP per capita (in US$ PPP) | GDP (in billion US$ nominal) | GDP growth (real) | Inflation (in Percent) | Government debt (in % of GDP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 7.68 | 491 | 2.26 | −2.3% | 9.8% | n/a |
| 1985 | 12.59 | 718 | 3.21 | 6.1% | 4.1% | n/a |
| 1990 | 18.37 | 936 | 4.44 | 4.6% | 8.9% | n/a |
| 1995 | 26.70 | 1197 | 5.38 | 3.5% | 7.7% | n/a |
| 2000 | 36.70 | 1494 | 6.54 | 6.1% | 3.4% | 50.8% |
| 2005 | 49.01 | 1865 | 9.33 | 3.5% | 4.5% | 45.1% |
| 2006 | 52.23 | 1969 | 10.32 | 3.4% | 8.0% | 42.9% |
| 2007 | 55.47 | 2076 | 11.78 | 3.4% | 6.2% | 37.9% |
| 2008 | 59.99 | 2232 | 14.31 | 6.1% | 6.7% | 36.8% |
| 2009 | 63.10 | 2335 | 14.66 | 4.5% | 12.6% | 39.5% |
| 2010 | 66.94 | 2465 | 18.25 | 4.8% | 9.6% | 35.4% |
| 2011 | 70.66 | 2591 | 21.69 | 3.4% | 9.6% | 32.4% |
| 2012 | 75.34 | 2756 | 21.70 | 4.7% | 8.3% | 34.5% |
| 2013 | 79.32 | 2897 | 22.16 | 3.5% | 9.9% | 31.9% |
| 2014 | 85.55 | 3115 | 22.72 | 6.0% | 9.0% | 27.6% |
| 2015 | 89.78 | 3252 | 24.36 | 4.0% | 7.2% | 25.7% |
| 2016 | 91.02 | 3267 | 24.52 | 0.4% | 9.9% | 25.0% |
| 2017 | 100.97 | 3583 | 28.97 | 9.0% | 4.5% | 25.0% |
| 2018 | 111.09 | 3897 | 33.11 | 7.6% | 4.1% | 31.1% |
| 2019 | 121.06 | 4199 | 34.19 | 6.7% | 4.6% | 34.0% |
| 2020 | 122.69 | 4180 | 33.43 | −2.4% | 6.2% | 43.3% |
| 2021 | 134.00 | 4461 | 36.93 | 4.8% | 3.6% | 43.3% |
| 2022 | 151.64 | 4964 | 41.18 | 5.6% | 6.3% | 42.7% |
| 2023 | 160.16 | 5153 | 40.91 | 2.0% | 7.8% | 47.1% |
| 2024 | 169.12 | 5348 | 43.67 | 3.1% | 5.6% | 49.7% |
GDP: purchasing power parity - $84.37 Billion (2018 est.)[26][dubious –discuss]
GDP - real growth rate: 21.77% (2017)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity (current international $) - $2700 (2017 est.)GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 17%
industry: 13.5%
services: 60.5% (2017 est.)
tourism: 9%
Population below poverty line: 25.6% (2017/2018)[27]
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 29.8% (1995–96)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.5% (2017)
Labour force: 4 million (2016 est.)[citation needed]
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 19%, services 69%, industry 12% (2014 est.)
Unemployment rate: 1.47% (2017 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $5.954 billion
expenditures: $5.974 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2017 est.)
Industries:tourism, carpet, textile; small rice,jute,sugar, andoilseed mills;cigarette;cement and brick production
Industrial production growth rate: 10.9% (2017 est.):
Electricity - production: 41,083 GWh (2017)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 7.5%
hydro: 91.5%
nuclear: 0.3%
other: 0.7% (2001)
Available energy:6957.73 GWh (2017)NEA Hydro:2290.78 GWh (2014)NEA Thermal:9.56 GWh (2014)purchase (total):2331.17 GWh (2014)India (purchase):2175.04 GWh (2017)Nepal (IPP):1258.94 GWh (2014)
Electricity - consumption: 4,776.53 GWh (2017)
Electricity - exports: 856 GWh (2001)Electricity - imports: 12 GWh (2001)
Oil - production: 0 barrels per day (0 m3/d) (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 1,600 barrels per day (250 m3/d) 2001
Agriculture - products:Fruits and vegetables, mostly:apples,pears,tomatoes,peaches,nectarines,potatoes,rice,maize,wheat,sugarcane,root crops,milk, andbuffalo meat.
Exports: $1.29 billion f.o.b., but does not include unrecorded border trade withIndia (2020 est.)
Exports - commodities:carpets, clothing,leather goods,jute goods,grain
Exports - partners:India 56.6%,US 11.5%,Turkey 9.2% (2016 est.)
Imports: $1.6 billion f.o.b. (2021 est.)
Imports - commodities:gold, machinery and equipment,petroleum products, electrical goods, medicine
Imports - partners: India 70.1%, China 10.3%,UAE 2.6%,Singapore 2.1%,Saudi Arabia 1.2%. (2016 est.)
Debt - external: $9.1 billion (2022 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:$2 billionArchived 27 July 2023 at theWayback Machine (FY 2019/20)
Currency: 1 Nepalirupee (NPR) = 100 paisa
Fiscal year: 16 July - 15 July
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromThe World Factbook (2003 ed.).CIA.
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