Country profile - Societal developments (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)

SOER 2010 Country profile (Deprecated)

This is an old version, kept for reference only.

Go to latest version

This page was archived on 21 Mar 2015 with reason: A new version has been published

SOER Country profile from Macedonia the former Yugoslavian Republic of

Economy

The economy is small, with a GDP of just little over $4 billion in 2003. The GDP real growth rate of 2.8 % for that year was well above most European countries. More recent data show that for 2007 the GDP grows up to $5.4 billion.

From 2003-2007 the biggest share of the structure of the GDP are Service activities which include trade, hotels and restaurants, transport storage and communication, financial intermediation, real estate, renting and business activities, public administration, health, education and other community, social and personal service activities. The share in 2003 is 43.9% and 45.7% in 2007.

The share of Industry, including Energy and Construction is 26.2% in 2003 and 27.9% in 2007, while Agriculture, forestry and Fishery share with 11.4% in 2003 and with 9.4% in 2007.

In 2004, the government passed a progressive Trade Companies Law aimed at easing impediments to foreign investment, providing tax and investment incentives, and guaranteeing shareholder rights. In 2006, the government began implementing a one-stop procedure for business registration that considerably shortened the time required to register a new business.

The governmental objective to create a favourable environment for foreign and domestic investments remains in force.