STEPS Algeria 2019 Structural transformation, employment, production and society

Abstract

Algeria is located in North Africa. It has a Mediterranean coastline and an immense inland desert, the Sahara. The country was subjugated by various colonial empires, in the run-up to its independence in 1962. Its population, measuring 41.7 million in 2017, is predominantly Muslim. Algeria is the fourth largest economy on the African continent, and the second largest in the North African sub region, behind Egypt. After a decade in the 1990s marked by security and economic difficulties, Algeria has gradually worked towards and regained security stability and entered upon the path of growth. This has been attributable, among other factors, to the upturn in oil prices, which has made it possible to finance an ambitious catch-up program in terms of infrastructure and a generous social system. Per capita income is $4,123 (2017), placing Algeria in the upper middle-income bracket. The main objective of the structural transformation, employment, production and society (STEPS) profiles is to produce country-specific data analysis and policy recommendations for structural transformation that will promote sustainable development. They are produced by the sub regional offices of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).