Editing Economy of Syria (section)

=== 1990s–2000s: Liberalization and privatization ===
In 1990, the Assad government instituted a series of economic reforms, although the economy remained highly regulated.<ref name="Central Intelligence Agency">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/ |website=CIA World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=25 October 2018|title=Middle East :: Syria – the World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency }}</ref> The Syrian economy experienced strong growth throughout the 1990s, and into the 2000s.<ref name="fred.stlouisfed.org" /> Syria's per capita GDP was US$4,058 in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Purchasing Power Parity Converted GDP per Capita, G-K method, at current prices for Syria |url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PPCGDPSYA620NUPN |website=FRED Economic Data |publisher=Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis |access-date=25 October 2018|date=January 1960 }}</ref> There is no authoritative GDP data available after 2012, due to Syria's civil war.<ref name="Central Intelligence Agency" />

Following his assumption of power in 2000, [[Bashar al-Assad]] sought to frame his leadership around modernizing and opening the economy. He emphasized, in particular, "the need to modernize the regulatory environment and the industrial base, activate and encourage the private sector, remove bureaucratic obstacles to investment, increase job opportunities, qualify cadres, improve education and expand information technology."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Perthes|first=Volker|title=Syria under Bashar al-Asad:Modernisation and the Limits of Change|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=9780198567509|pages=32}}</ref> While the government's [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] reforms indeed contributed to ramping up trade and invigorating the private sector, these were accompanied by rising inequality, declining public services, and increasingly overt forms of corruption, which ultimately helped fuel protests in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-07-06|title=Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VI): The Syrian People's Slow-motion Revolution|url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/eastern-mediterranean/syria/popular-protest-north-africa-and-middle-east-vi-syrian-people-s-slow-motion-revolution|access-date=2021-11-22|website=Crisis Group|language=en}}</ref> In one example of this trend, the Syrian Agricultural Workers Union complained in February 2011 that state mismanagement and the lifting of input subsidies was exacerbating the impact of drought on Syria's agricultural sector.<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 February 2011|title=End of Subsidies Main Reason behind Decline of Agriculture Output, Workers Union Says|url=https://syria-report.com/news/end-of-subsidies-main-reason-behind-decline-of-agriculture-output-workers-union-says/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-22|website=Syria Report|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122151623/https://syria-report.com/news/end-of-subsidies-main-reason-behind-decline-of-agriculture-output-workers-union-says/ |archive-date=22 November 2021 }}</ref>

Before the civil war, the two main pillars of the Syrian economy were agriculture and oil, which together accounted for about one-half of [[GDP]]. Agriculture, for instance, accounted for about 26% of GDP and employed 25% of the total labor force.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/emergencies/resources/documents/resources-detail/en/c/878213/|title=Counting the Cost: Agriculture in Syria after six years of crisis : FAO in Emergencies|website=fao.org|language=en|access-date=2018-04-28|archive-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505205244/http://www.fao.org/emergencies/resources/documents/resources-detail/en/c/878213/|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, poor climatic conditions and severe [[drought]] badly affected the agricultural sector, reducing its share in the economy to about 17% of 2008 GDP, down from 20.4% in 2007, according to preliminary data from the Central Bureau of Statistics. On the other hand, higher crude oil prices countered declining oil production and led to higher budgetary and export receipts.<ref name="USState2010">{{cite news|title=Background Note: Syria, September 2010|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/syria/158703.htm|newspaper=US State Department – Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs|access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref>