Oman, in 2016, faced a significant budget deficitdriven by the continued decline of revenue fromoil and gas exports. To make ends meet, the gov-

ernment cut public expenditures and explored privatiza-tion of state-owned assets. Oman also sought to bolsterrevenue by diversifying its economy. In April the Ministryof Tourism announced that it would implement a long-term plan to boost the number of tourists visiting thecountry from 2.4 million in 2015 to 5 million by 2040.The plan, which would focus on new investment at estab-lished tourist attractions, such as theFrankincense Trail in “alalah, wasprojected to cost about $35 billion.

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 population (2015): 34.1(world avg. 19.5).

Death rate per 1,000 population (2015): 2.9(world avg. 8.1).

Life expectancy at birth (2015): male 74.2years; female 78.8 years.

DemographyPopulation (2016): 4,496,000.Density (2016): persons per sq mi 37.6,persons per sq km 14.5.

Sex distribution (2015): male 64.55%;female 35.45%.

Population projection: (2020) 4,652,000;(2030) 5,060,000.

Major cities (2015): Muscat125,000 (urban agglomer-ation [2014] 775,878);Bawshar 387,0004; Al-Sib340,000; “alalah 280,000;Matrah 233,4264.

Urban-rural (2014):

Oman

Official name: Saltanat (Uman(Sultanate of Oman).

Form of government: monarchy withtwo advisory bodies (State Council[851]; Consultative Council [85]).

Head of state and government: SultanQaboos bin Said.

Capital: Muscat2.Official language: Arabic.Official religion: Islam.Monetary unit: rial Omani (RO); valua-tion (Sept. 1, 2016) 1 U.S.$ = RO 0.38;1 £ = RO 0.51.

Ethnic composition (2000):

Age breakdown (2015):

Religious affiliation (2010):

Area and population area3 population

2015Governorates Capitals sq mi sq km estimate

Al-Buraymi Al-Buraymi 2,880 7,460 102,961Al-Dakhiliyah Nizwa 12,317 31,900 416,858Al-Wusta Hayma 31,853 82,500 41,069Al-Zahirah (Ibri 13,861 35,900 191,871Janub al-Batinah Al-Rustaq 2,054 5,320 376,242Janub al-Sharqiyah “ur 4,633 12,000 275,920Masqat Muscat (Masqat) 1,467 3,800 1,281,232Musandam Khasab 625 1,620 40,851Shamal al-Batinah “uhar 3,050 7,900 681,673Shamal al-Sharqiyah Ibra 8,147 21,100 249,655Zufar (Dhofar) “alalah 38,262 99,100 386,076TOTAL 119,4995 309,5005 4,159,1026

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National economyBudget (2012). Revenue: RO 14,080,300,000 (oil revenue 74.1%; natur-

al gas revenue 11.2%; nontax revenue 8.2%; tax rev-enue 6.5%). Expenditures: RO 13,555,000,000 (currentexpenditure 64.7%, of which defense 35.0%, education9.1%; capital expenditure 21.3%, of which oil-, gas-related 8.7%; other 14.0%).

Public debt (2010): U.S.$2,938,800,000.Gross national income (GNI; 2015): U.S.$79,960,000,000(U.S.$16,920 per capita); purchasing power parity GNI(U.S.$37,340 per capita).

Average household size (2003): 6.8.Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture,forestry, fishing (2013): dates 269,000, bananas 67,165,tomatoes 47,812, sorghum (2014) 40,730, chilies and

peppers 13,500, eggplants 12,109, mangoes, mangosteens, and guavas8,708, lemons and limes 6,472, potatoes (2014) 5,880, okra 3,575,tobacco 1,200; livestock (number of live animals; 2014) 2,100,000goats, 410,000 sheep, 365,000 cattle, 250,000 camels; roundwood(2015) 44,005 cu m, of which fuelwood 100%; fisheries production(2014) 211,319 (from aquaculture, negligible). Mining and quarrying(2013): limestone 5,489,000; marble 1,255,000; chromite 788,000; cop-per (metal content) 1,000. Manufacturing (value added inU.S.$’000,000; 2014): chemicals and chemical products 4,040; refinedpetroleum products 1,894; base metals 1,093; cement, bricks, andceramics 956; food products and beverages 580; electrical machineryand apparatus 493. Energy production (consumption): electricity (kW-hr; 2012) 24,365,000,000 ([2011] 21,354,000,000), by source (2013): fos-sil fuels 100%; coal, none (none); crude petroleum (barrels; 2013–14)346,000,000 ([2011] 68,100,000); petroleum products (metric tons;2012) 10,487,000 ([2011] 6,540,000); natural gas (cu m; 2012)35,940,000,000 (17,530,000,000).

Population economically active (2013): total (2015) 1,780,000; participa-tion rates: age 15 and over, male 64.1%; female 20.5%; unemployed(2004) 15%.

Land use as % of total land area (2011): in temporary crops or left fal-low 0.1%, in permanent crops 0.1%, in pasture 5.5%, forest area0.01%.

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel (November 2015):

42,600 (army 58.7%, navy 9.9%, air force11.7%, royal household 15.0%, foreignforces serving within Omani military com-mand 4.7%).18 Military expenditure as per-centage of GDP (2015): 16.4%; per capitaexpenditure U.S.$3,008.

Foreign trade14

Imports (2013): RO 13,201,100,000 (mineral prod-ucts 27.5%, transportation equipment 18.0%,machinery and apparatus 15.6%, base and fabricat-ed metals 10.4%, chemicals and chemical products7.6%). Major import sources:

Exports (2013): RO 21,697,000,000 (crude petrole-um 56.9%, LNG 7.7%, mineral products 5.9%,chemicals and chemical products 3.7%). Major export destinations15:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads: none. Roads(2012): total length 37,425 mi,60,230 km (paved 51%). Vehicles(200816): passenger cars 453,362;trucks and buses 139,728.

Education and healthLiteracy (2015): percentage of total populationage 15 and over literate 91.1%; males literate93.6%; females literate 85.6%.

Health (2012): physicians 5,615 (1 per 513 per-sons); hospital beds 6,179 (1 per 466 persons);infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births(2015) 9.5.

1All appointed by sultan. 2Many ministries are located in adjacent Bawshar. 3Approximate; no com-prehensive survey of surface area has ever been carried out in Oman. 4Within Muscat urban agglomer-ation. 5Detail does not add to total given because of statistical discrepancy. 6Total includes 114,694 per-sons of unspecified location. 7Mostly Ibadiyah with lesser numbers of Sunni and Shi(i. 8Blacks original-ly from Zanzibar. 9Preliminary. 10Employed only; includes 424,178 expatriate workers and 312,446Omani workers. 11Oil and natural gas excludes refined petroleum products; Manufacturing includesrefined petroleum products. 12Taxes less subsidies and less imputed bank service charges. 13Detail doesnot add to total given because of rounding. 14Imports c.i.f.; exports f.o.b. 15Excluding petroleum-relat-ed exports. 16January 1. 17Subscribers. 18Foreign troops (November 2015): U.K. 70.

Internet resources for further information:• National Centre for Statistics and Information www.ncsi.gov.om• Central Bank of Oman www.cbo.gov.om

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force20139 2003

in value % of total labour % of labourRO ’000,000 value force10 force10

Agriculture, forestry, fishing 388.1 1.3 58,114 7.9Oil and natural gas 15,220.111 49.711

20,115 2.7Other mining 107.7 0.4Manufacturing 3,267.111 10.711 59,492 8.1Construction 1,645.2 5.4 118,257 16.0Public utilities 384.4 1.3 4,045 0.5Transp. and commun. 1,438.1 4.7 27,674 3.8Trade, restaurants, hotels 2,445.4 8.0 109,157 14.8Finance, real estate 2,437.8 8.0 25,200 3.4Pub. admin., defense 2,814.5 9.2 162,742 22.1Services 2,301.4 7.5 137,420 18.7Other –1,822.012 –5.912 14,408 2.0TOTAL 30,627.713 100.013 736,624 100.0

}

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2015 6,64717 1,59917

Landline 2015 435 105

Internet users 2011 1,911 680Broadband 2015 23317 5617

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