Following World War I, France acquired a mandate over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. The French demarcated the region of Lebanon in 1920 and granted this area independence in 1943. Since independence, the country has been marked by periods of political turmoil interspersed with prosperity built on its position as a regional center for finance and trade. The country's 1975-90 civil war, which resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities, was followed by years of social and political instability. Sectarianism is a key element of Lebanese political life. Neighboring Syria has historically influenced Lebanon's foreign policy and internal policies, and its military occupied Lebanon from 1976 until 2005. The Lebanon-based Hizballah militia and Israel continued attacks and counterattacks against each other after Syria's withdrawal, and fought a brief war in 2006. Lebanon's borders with Syria and Israel remain unresolved.

Source: The CIA World Factbook - Lebanon



Ihre Berater der Handelskammer

Edith Stein

Kontaktieren Sie uns: middleeast@cc.lu


Kennzahlen

Fläche
10,400 km2
Bevölkerung
5,261,372 (July 2021 est.)
Regierungsform
parliamentary republic
Sprachen
Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian
BIP
$33.383 billion (2020 est.)
Wachstumsrate
-20.3% (2020 est.)
HDI
92
Hauptstadt
Beirut

Makroökonomische Indikatoren

Lebanon has a free-market economy and a strong laissez-faire commercial tradition. The government does not restrict foreign investment; however, the investment climate suffers from red tape, corruption, arbitrary licensing decisions, complex customs procedures, high taxes, tariffs, and fees, archaic legislation, and inadequate intellectual property rights protection. The Lebanese economy is service-oriented; main growth sectors include banking and tourism.

The 1975-90 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and derailed Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern banking hub. Following the civil war, Lebanon rebuilt much of its war-torn physical and financial infrastructure by borrowing heavily, mostly from domestic banks, which saddled the government with a huge debt burden. Pledges of economic and financial reforms made at separate international donor conferences during the 2000s have mostly gone unfulfilled, including those made during the Paris III Donor Conference in 2007, following the July 2006 war. The "CEDRE" investment event hosted by France in April 2018 again rallied the international community to assist Lebanon with concessional financing and some grants for capital infrastructure improvements, conditioned upon long-delayed structural economic reforms in fiscal management, electricity tariffs, and transparent public procurement, among many others.

The Syria conflict cut off one of Lebanon's major markets and a transport corridor through the Levant. The influx of nearly one million registered and an estimated 300,000 unregistered Syrian refugees has increased social tensions and heightened competition for low-skill jobs and public services. Lebanon continues to face several long-term structural weaknesses that predate the Syria crisis, notably, weak infrastructure, poor service delivery, institutionalized corruption, and bureaucratic over-regulation. Chronic fiscal deficits have increased Lebanon’s debt-to-GDP ratio, the third highest in the world; most of the debt is held internally by Lebanese banks. These factors combined to slow economic growth to the 1-2% range in 2011-17, after four years of averaging 8% growth. Weak economic growth limits tax revenues, while the largest government expenditures remain debt servicing, salaries for government workers, and transfers to the electricity sector. These limitations constrain other government spending, limiting its ability to invest in necessary infrastructure improvements, such as water, electricity, and transportation. In early 2018, the Lebanese government signed long-awaited contract agreements with an international consortium for petroleum exploration and production as part of the country’s first offshore licensing round. Exploration is expected to begin in 2019.

Source: The CIA World Factbook - Lebanon

IMF Statistics:

Subject descriptor 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Gross domestic product, constant prices

Percent change

0.250

0.200

0.863

2.336

2.570

Gross domestic product, current prices

Percent change

(Billions)

56.372

58.565

60.455

63.139

66.120

Gross domestic product per capita, current prices

Percent change

(Units)

9,251.207

9,654.805

10,042.777

10,598.524

11,254.034

Inflation, average consumer prices

Percent change

6.068

3.089

2.590

2.423

2.425

Volume of imports of goods and services

Percent change

-1.600

1.761

2.587

2.143

1.580

Volume of exports of goods and services

Percent change

-3.849

9.001

4.544

4.360

4.338

Unemployment rate

Percent change

Current account balance

Percent change

(Billions)

-14.406

-15.452

-15.913

-16.191

-16.186

Current account balance

Percent change

-25.556

-26.384

-26.322

-25.643

-24.479

Estimates

Source: IMF Statistics - Lebanon

 


Luxemburg und das Land

Existing conventions and agreements

Non double taxation agreement

In order to promote international economic and financial relations in the interest of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg government negotiates bilateral agreements for the avoidance of double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on fortune with third countries.

None

Air Services agreement

  • Agreement from 18.7.2001

Not ratified by Luxembourg yet (Transport for preparing the explanatory statement)

Source: Administration des contributions directes


Weitere Informationen

Foreign Trade

The Statec Foreign Trade statistics provide information on the trade of goods - by product and by country. This information is collected respectively through the INTRASTAT declaration and on the basis of customs documents.

You can see the statistics on the website of the Statec.

Contact Points in Lebanon

Luxembourg is represented by Ambassade Royale des Pays-Bas à Beyrouth

Competent post for consular affairs Ambassade Royaume de Belgique à Beyrouth

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg

Country risk as defined by Office du Ducroire for Lebanon

Ducroire is the only credit insurer covering open account deals in over 200 countries. A rating on a scale from 1 to 7 shows the intensity of the political risk. Category 1 comprises countries with the lowest political risk and category 7 countries with the highest. Macroeconomics experts also assess the repayment climate for all buyers in a country.

Link: The Ducroire Office - Country Risk for Lebanon

Oher useful links:


Die Handelskammer und das Land