Algeria: Economic and Political Outline

Economic Overview

After having slowed down due to the global economic crisis and a drop in the prices of oil and gas, the Algerian economy resumed its growth in 2010-11, driven by the resumption of demand in the hydrocarbon sector and the strong performance of the service and construction sectors and aided by a program of public investment (PIP). Growth excluding the hydrocarbons sector reached 5% in 2011 and according to the estimates should remain at 4.7 in 2012.

Despite the outbreak of protests in early 2011, folloing other regional political upheavals, the impact of the Arab spring has been limited in Algeria. Social unrest had been fueled by the rising food prices, the housing crisis and unemployment - the government responded with a tax exemption on common food products, by increasing support for youth employment, and facilitating access to credit. The result was an explosion of public spending. The five-year plan 2010-2014 is in line with the previous emphasis on infrastructure modernization and privatization of the economy. The dependence of the Algerian economy on hydrocarbons is a potential barrier to the country's sustainable development.

The current unemployment rate in Algeria is officially at 10% but some claim it is closer to 20%. The per capita GDP was USD 5,245 in 2009. It should be noted that there is a large discrepancy between the urban and rural living conditions

Main Sectors of Industry

Agriculture contributes about 12% of the GDP and employs almost one fifth of the active population. The main crops are wheat, barley, oats, citrus fruit, wine grapes, olives, tobacco and dates. Algeria produces a large quantity of cork and has a significant amount of livestock farming.

The industry contributes nearly 55% of the GDP and employs a quarter of the population. The oil and gas sector accounts for the majority of budgetary income, and almost all of export income. Algeria is the 2nd biggest gas exporter in the world. It ranks 18th for its petroleum reserves and 10th for its gas reserves. The ores mined in big quantities are iron, lead, phosphate, uranium, zinc, salt and coal. The main activities of the manufacturing sector are industrial food processing, textile, chemical products, metals and construction materials.

The tertiary sector contributes about a third of the GDP and employs more than half of the workforce.

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

52.4/100

Position:

Mostly unfree

World Rank:

127/179

Regional Rank:

14/17

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

Sources of General Economic Information

Ministries

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Finance
The Ministry of Industry and Restructuration
The Ministry of Share-holdings and Investment Promotion
The Ministry of Commerce

Statistical Office

The National Office of Statistics

Central Bank

The Bank of Algeria

Stock Exchange

The Organization and Monitoring Committee for Stock Exchange Transactions (COSOB)

Other Useful Resources

The Ministry of SMEs and Craft Industry

Main Online Newspapers

El Watan
Liberté
Le Quotidien d'Oran
L'Expression
Le Jeune Indépendant
La Nouvelle République
Algérie Presse Service (Official press agency)
La Tribune Online
El-Moudjahid

Economic Portals

The Algerian portal for political, economic, IT, sports and cultural news in Algeria and worldwide.
Ladoc, portal for Algeria, economic section
Algérie Businessweb, portal for economic and commercial information

Political Outline

Type of State

Republic, parliamentary democracy combined with presidential power.

Executive Power

The President of the Republic is the Head of State. He is elected by direct universal suffrage for 5 years. He appoints the Prime Minister and his government at the suggestion of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister sets the amount of the State's expenses and revenue, and prepares some Bills.

Legislative Power

Parliament is composed of the Council of the Nation and the National Popular Assembly. Senators are elected by indirect universal suffrage for 6 years (renewable every 3 years). Deputies (MPs) are elected by direct universal suffrage. They examine successively Bills and private Bills, vote laws and monitor the government.

Main Political Parties

The main political parties in the country are: the FLN (National Liberation Front) which was previously the only legal party in the country, the RND (National Democratic Group), the FFS (Socialist Forces Front), the RCD (Culture and Democracy Group), the MRN (National Reform Movement) which is an Islamic party and the PT (Workers' Party). A law prohibiting political parties based on religion was promulgated in March 1997.

Current Political Leaders

President : Abdelaziz Bouteflika (since April 1999, re-elected in April 2004 and April 2009) – Independent
Prime Minister: Ahmed OUYAHIA (since June 2008)

Next Election Dates

National Popular Assembly: May 2012
Presidential elections : April 2014

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

122/179

Evolution:

11 places up compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).