Unemployment

Yemen has an official unemployment rate of almost 40%; 

Natural Resources

 Oil, the main natural resource, is far less plentiful than in Yemen’s northern Gulf Cooperation Council neighbours; oil is forecast to run out in less than a decade. Although other natural resources, such as liquefied natural gas, have been identified as potentially significant sources of income, they are unlikely to replace oil in the extent of the remittances they generate. 

Corruption

Yemen’s economy and society has been marred by corruption, with Yemen being listed as the 18th most corrupt country in the world.



Agriculture

Agriculture provides the mainstay for employment in Yemen, which remains a mainly agrarian society. For centuries, Yemeni farmers produced, and indeed exported, crops as diverse as coffee and mangoes. However, the increasing cultivation of qat (a mildly narcotic leaf that is chewed for its stimulating effect) has posed a variety of challenges to Yemen