Short facts about the economy in Bolivia
| Economy -
overview: |
Bolivia, long one of the poorest and
least developed Latin American countries, has made considerable progress toward
the development of a market-oriented economy. Successes under President SANCHEZ
DE LOZADA (1993-97) included the signing of a free trade agreement with Mexico
and joining the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), as well as the
privatization of the state airline, telephone company, railroad, electric power
company, and oil company. His successor, Hugo BANZER Suarez has tried to further
improve the country's investment climate with an anticorruption campaign. Growth
slowed in 1999, in part due to tight government budget policies, which limited
needed appropriations for anti-poverty programs, and the fallout from the Asian
financial crisis. In 2000, major civil disturbances in April, and again in
September and October, held down overall growth to
2.5%. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $20.9 billion
(2000 est.) |
| GDP - real
growth rate: |
2.5% (2000
est.) |
| GDP - per
capita: |
purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2000
est.) |
| GDP -
composition by sector: |
agriculture: 16%
industry: 31%
services: 53% (1999
est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
70% (1999
est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 31.7%
(1990) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
4.4% (2000
est.) |
| Labor force
- by occupation: |
agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services
NA% |
| Unemployment
rate: |
11.4% (1997)
note:
widespread underemployment |
| Budget: |
revenues: $2.7 billion
expenditures: $2.7 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1998) |
| Industries: |
mining, smelting, petroleum, food and
beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
4% (1995
est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
3.625 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 56.61%
hydro: 41.6%
nuclear:
0%
other: 1.79% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
3.377 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
4 million kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
10 million kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn,
sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber |
| Exports: |
$1.26 billion (f.o.b., 2000
est.) |
| Exports -
commodities: |
soybeans, natural gas, zinc, gold,
wood |
| Exports -
partners: |
UK 16%, US 12%, Peru 11%, Argentina
10%, Colombia 7% (1998) |
| Imports: |
$1.86 billion (f.o.b., 2000
est.) |
| Imports -
commodities: |
capital goods, raw materials and
semi-manufactures, chemicals, petroleum, food |
| Imports -
partners: |
US 32%, Japan 24%, Brazil 12%,
Argentina 12%, Chile 7%, Peru 4%, Germany 3%, other 6%
(1998) |
| Debt -
external: |
$6.6 billion
(2000) |
| Economic aid
- recipient: |
$588 million
(1997) |
| Currency: |
boliviano
(BOB) |
| Exchange
rates: |
bolivianos per US dollar - 6.4071
(January 2001), 6.1835 (2000), 5.8124 (1999), 5.5101 (1998), 5.2543 (1997),
5.0746 (1996) |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year | Source: World Factbook |
