Economy

Brunei's small, wealthy economy is a mixture of foreign and domestic entrepreneurship, government regulation, welfare measures and village tradition. Crude oil and natural gas production account for nearly half of GDP. Substantial income from overseas investment supplements income from domestic production.

The government provides for all medical services and subsidises rice and housing. Stated plans for the future include upgrading the labour force, reducing unemployment, strengthening the banking and tourist sectors, and, in general, further widening the economic base.

Economic History

The Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998, coupled with fluctuations in the price of oil have created uncertainty and instability in Brunei's economy. In addition, the 1998 collapse of the AMEDEO Corporation, Brunei's largest construction firm whose projects helped fuel the domestic economy, caused the country to slip into a mild recession.

Brunei is the third-largest oil producer in Southeast Asia, averaging about 180,000 barrels (29,000 cubic metres) a day. It also is the fourth-largest producer of liquefied natural gas in the world. Brunei's gross domestic product (GDP) soared with the petroleum price increases of the 1970s to a peak of $5.7 billion in 1980. It declined slightly in each of the next 5 years, then fell by almost 30% in 1986.

This drop was caused by a combination of sharply lower petroleum prices in world markets and voluntary production cuts in Brunei. The GDP recovered somewhat since 1986, growing by 12% in 1987, 1% in 1988, and 9% in 1989. In recent years, GDP growth was 3.5% in 1996, 1.0% in 1998, and 0.4% in 2005. By 2005, GDP (PPP) had reached $9.531 billion.

Facts and Figures

• GDP
  • Purchasing power parity: $9.531 billion
  • Official exchange rate: $9.531 billion
  • Real growth rate: 0.4%
  • Per capita (PPP): $25,600
  • Composition by sector:
    • Agriculture: 0.9%
    • Industry: 71.6%
    • Services: 27.5%
• Labour Force:
  • Total: 180,400
  • By Occupation:
    • Agriculture: 2.9%
    • Industry: 61.1%
    • Services: 36%
• Unemployment Rate: 4%
• Inflation Rate (Consumer Prices): 1.1%
• Budget:
  • Revenues: $3.765 billion
  • Expenditures: $4.815 billion
• Agriculture - Products:
  • Vegetables
  • Rice
  • Fruits; Chickens
  • Water Buffalo
  • Cattle
  • Goats
  • Eggs
• Industries:
  • Petroleum
  • Petroleum Refining
  • Liquefied Natural Gas
  • Construction
• Industrial Production Growth Rate: 1.8%
• Electricity:
  • Production: 2.913 billion kWh
  • Consumption: 2.726 billion kWh
  • Exports: 0 kWh
  • Imports: 0 kWh
• Oil:
  • Production: 219,300 bbl/day
  • Consumption: 14,900 bbl/day
  • Exports: 205,600 bbl/day
  • Imports: 31,190 bbl/day
  • Proved reserves: 1.255 billion bbl
• Natural Gas
  • Production: 11.5 billion cu m
  • Consumption: 2 billion cu m
  • Exports: 9.5 billion cu m
  • Imports: 0 cu m
  • Proved reserves: 390.8 billion cu m
• Exports:
  • Total: $6.247 billion f.o.b.
  • Commodities:
    • Crude oil
    • Natural gas
    • Refined products
    • Clothing
  • Partners:
    • Japan 36.8%
    • Indonesia 19.3%
    • South Korea 12.7%
    • US 9.5%
    • Australia 9.3%
• Imports:
  • Total: $1.481 billion c.i.f.
  • Commodities:
    • Machinery and transport equipment
    • Manufactured goods
    • Food
    • Chemicals
  • Partners:
    • Singapore 32.7%
    • Malaysia 23.3%
    • Japan 6.9%
    • UK 5.3%
    • Thailand 4.5%
    • South Korea 4%