The population of East Timor in 2017 was 1,255,068 people, with the majority living in rural areas. The economy of East Timor is largely based on agriculture and fisheries, with a GDP of $3.8 billion and a relatively low per capita income. East Timor is a member of the United Nations, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. It has close ties to many countries throughout Southeast Asia as well as Australia and Portugal. In terms of politics, it is a unitary semi-presidential republic with President Francisco Guterres as its head of state. The Prime Minister is Mari Alkatiri who leads the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor which has been in power since 2017. See militarynous for East Timor military and defense.
Yearbook 2017
Timor. In the March presidential election, Fretilins leader Francisco Guterres was elected the country’s president. Guterres received 57% of the vote, which meant that a second ballot could be excluded. Both Fretilin and the CNRT (National Congress of Timor’s Reconstruction) – the country’s largest parties – expressed support for Guterres, who is also called “Lu Olo” after his time as a guerrilla soldier in East Timor’s liberation war from Indonesia. See ABBREVIATIONFINDER for frequently used acronyms and abbreviations related to as well as country profile of East Timor.
Economy
| Inflation rate | 0.60% |
| Unemployment rate | 4.4% |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) | $ 7,426,000,000 |
| GDP growth rate | -4.60% |
| GDP per capita | 6,000 USD |
| GDP by sector | |
| Agriculture | 9.10% |
| Industry | 56.70% |
| Service | 34.40% |
| State budget | |
| Revenue | 107.7 million |
| Expenditure | 73 million |
| Proportion of the population below the national poverty line | 41% |
| Distribution of household income | |
| Top 10% | 27 |
| Lower 10% | 4th |
| Industrial production growth rate | -5.00% |
| Investment volume | |
| National debt | 3.80% of GDP |
| Foreign exchange reserves | |
| Tourism | 2014 |
| Number of visitors | 60,000 |
| Revenue | $ 35,000,000 |
In July, the country’s residents returned to the polls to vote in the parliamentary elections. The result between Fretilin and CNRT was very even, with 23 mandates for Fretilin and 22 for CNRT. As a result, CNRT lost eight places compared to the last election, while Fretilin’s seats dropped by two. The Democratic Party got seven seats and eight went to the newly formed People’s Liberation Party, founded by the country’s former president Taur Matan Ruak. According to analysts, dissatisfaction with corruption and poor economic development was a contributing reason for the CNRT dropping votes.
According to Countryaah.com, the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague announced in September that the two neighboring countries Australia and East Timor had reached an agreement on how to draw the maritime border between the countries. As a result, the long-standing conflict over how Timor Lake’s oil and gas assets should be distributed seems resolved.
The same month, Fretilin’s Secretary-General Mari Alkatiri was named the country’s new prime minister. In connection with the nomination, President Guterres said Alkatiri would form a minority government. As a coalition partner, the Democratic Party was elected and not the pre-draft CNRT. A challenge for the prime minister would be to lift the decline in oil production, according to the Reuters news agency.
