Iraq - Forest rents (% of GDP)

Forest rents (% of GDP) in Iraq was 0.003 as of 2019. Its highest value over the past 49 years was 0.017 in 1971, while its lowest value was 0.001 in 1990.

Definition: Forest rents are roundwood harvest times the product of average prices and a region-specific rental rate.

Source: Estimates based on sources and methods described in "The Changing Wealth of Nations: Measuring Sustainable Development in the New Millennium" (World Bank, 2011).

See also:

Year Value
1970 0.008
1971 0.017
1972 0.009
1973 0.010
1974 0.005
1975 0.010
1976 0.004
1977 0.006
1978 0.005
1979 0.005
1980 0.003
1981 0.004
1982 0.005
1983 0.004
1984 0.003
1985 0.003
1986 0.004
1987 0.003
1988 0.003
1989 0.003
1990 0.001
2004 0.008
2005 0.005
2006 0.005
2007 0.004
2008 0.005
2009 0.006
2010 0.006
2011 0.004
2012 0.004
2013 0.004
2014 0.005
2015 0.005
2016 0.004
2017 0.005
2018 0.003
2019 0.003

Development Relevance: Accounting for the contribution of natural resources to economic output is important in building an analytical framework for sustainable development. In some countries earnings from natural resources, especially from fossil fuels and minerals, account for a sizable share of GDP, and much of these earnings come in the form of economic rents - revenues above the cost of extracting the resources. Natural resources give rise to economic rents because they are not produced. For produced goods and services competitive forces expand supply until economic profits are driven to zero, but natural resources in fixed supply often command returns well in excess of their cost of production. Rents from nonrenewable resources - fossil fuels and minerals - as well as rents from overharvesting of forests indicate the liquidation of a country's capital stock. When countries use such rents to support current consumption rather than to invest in new capital to replace what is being used up, they are, in effect, borrowing against their future.

Limitations and Exceptions: This definition of economic rent differs from that used in the System of National Accounts, where rents are a form of property income, consisting of payments to landowners by a tenant for the use of the land or payments to the owners of subsoil assets by institutional units permitting them to extract subsoil deposits.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The estimates of natural resources rents are calculated as the difference between the price of a commodity and the average cost of producing it. This is done by estimating the world price of units of specific commodities and subtracting estimates of average unit costs of extraction or harvesting costs (including a normal return on capital). These unit rents are then multiplied by the physical quantities countries extract or harvest to determine the rents for each commodity as a share of gross domestic product (GDP).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Natural resources contribution to GDP