10 World's Worst Economies

Swaziland

Swaziland is repeated name in the list. The country’s per-capita GDP averaged just $1,282 over the past three years as inflation roared at close to 13 percent. Blocked-in within South Africa, Swaziland has suffered from declining import duties as the world economy contracted.

Swaziland’s economy is diversified, with agriculture, forestry and mining accounting for about 13 percent of GDP, manufacturing representing 37 of GDP and services – with government services in the lead – constituting 50 percent of GDP. Title Deed Lands (TDLs), where the bulk of high value crops are grown are characterized by high levels of investment and irrigation, and high productivity. Nevertheless, the majority of the population about 75 percent is employed in subsistence agriculture on Swazi Nation Land (SNL), which, in contrast, suffers from low productivity and investment. This dual nature of the Swazi economy, with high productivity in textile manufacturing and in the industrialized agricultural TDLs on the one hand, and declining productivity subsistence agriculture (on SNL) on the other, may well explain the country’s overall low growth, high inequality and unemployment.