Economy, Manufacturing

Many products in Yemen continue to be made by hand and sold locally. Woven fabrics, glass and leatherwork, pottery, and jewelry are made by craftspeople who sell their work in the suqs (bazaars) held in many of Yemen’s cities, towns, and villages. Modern industry remains mostly small in scale. The petroleum refinery at Aden accounts for a large share of the country’s industrial output; other manufactures include foodstuffs, cement, tile, bricks, textiles, soft-drink bottles, and aluminum and plastic products. Oil-fueled electrical power plants produce all of Yemen’s electricity. Although many of the country’s large industrial facilities are antiquated and uneconomical, the public and private sectors are creating new industries and building factories in the urban centers; construction projects currently employ a significant number of Yemeni workers.