Economics and Agribusiness in Algeria

The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria is located in the Maghreb region of northern Africa and it became an independent country in 1962 after a prolonged decolonization conflict against France. Currently, Algeria has a total territory of almost 2.4 million square kilometers, which is little over three times the size of Texas. Likewise, Algeria has a large southern territory that consists of the Sahara desert as well as some 998 kilometers of Mediterranean coastline. Today, Algeria has a population of almost 41 million inhabitants, about 72% of which live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of Algiers with 2.6 million inhabitants. Similarly, the median age in Algeria is 28 years.

Economics and Agribusiness in Algeria

Algeria has an economy of approximately US$600 billion (PPP) that is divided into 13% agriculture, 36% manufacturing, and 51% services. Similarly, it is estimated that the agricultural industry employs 11% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs 31% and services employ another 58%. Meanwhile, the agriculture industry utilizes 17% of the national territory, while another 1% is forested. In terms of natural resources, Algeria has petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, and zinc. Furthermore, Algeria is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on fossil fuels processing, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, and food processing. Simultaneously, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits, sheep, and cattle.

In terms of trade, during 2016, Algeria imported US$47 billion worth of goods and exported US$29.9 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$17 billion. Furthermore, Algeria’s main export, representing 39% or US$11.8 billion of the country’s total in 2016, was petroleum gas. On the other hand, the country’s main import that same year, representing 3.8% or US$1.8 billion of all international purchases, was wheat. Similarly, Algeria’s main trading partners are France, Spain, Italy, the United States, Russia, and China, amongst others.

Unfortunately, in Algeria, some 1.8 million people suffer from undernourishment. In recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the national population has been about 25 grams daily. Simultaneously, land distribution and output in Algeria has evolved throughout the last half century. Back in 1961, permanent pastures and meadows in the country covered 38.400 hectares, while arable land covered 6.500 hectares and permanent crops accounted for 600 hectares. More recently, by 2014, permanent pastures and meadows represented 33.000 hectares, while arable land had increased to 7.500 hectares and permanent crops covered 970 hectares. Meanwhile, in 1961, Algeria devoted 2.7 million hectares of land to the production of cereals and produced about 940.000 metric tons annually. More recently, in 2014, the country devoted 2.5 million hectares of land to cereals production and yielded little over 3.4 million metric tons.

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