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The Economy of Bolivia

Bolivian Economy

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Economy - overview: Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Following a disastrous economic crisis during the early 1980s, reforms spurred private investment, stimulated economic growth, and cut poverty rates in the 1990s. The period 2003-05 was characterized by political instability, racial tensions, and violent protests against plans - subsequently abandoned - to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial hydrocarbons law that imposed significantly higher royalties and required foreign firms then operating under risk-sharing contracts to surrender all production to the state energy company. In early 2008, higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to 9.4% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Private investment as a share of GDP, however, remains among the lowest in Latin America, and inflation remained at double-digit levels in 2008. The decline in commodity prices in late 2008, the lack of foreign investment in the mining and hydrocarbon sectors, and the suspension of trade benefits with the United States will pose challenges for the Bolivian economy in 2009.

GDP:

GDP - real growth rate: 5.6% (2008 est.) 4.6% (2007 est.) 4.8% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita:

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 11.3% industry: 36.9% services: 51.8% (2008 est.)

Population below poverty line:

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 0.3% highest 10%: 47.2% (2002)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 59.2 (2006)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

Labor force: 4.457 million (2008 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 40% industry: 17% services: 43% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate: 7.5% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2008 est.)

Budget: revenues: $8.044 billion expenditures: $7.341 billion (2008 est.)

Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing

Industrial production growth rate: 7.4% (2008 est.)

Electricity - production: 5.668 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

Electricity - consumption: 5.092 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production: 61,790 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption: 31,500 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - exports: 18,500 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - imports: 8,600 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - proved reserves: 465 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production: 14.7 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 3 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 11.7 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 750.4 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Agriculture - products: soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber

Exports: $6.384 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Exports - commodities: natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin

Exports - partners: Brazil 46%, US 9.8%, Japan 7.6%, Argentina 5.8%, South Korea 4.8%, Peru 4.1% (2007)

Imports: $4.782 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Imports - commodities: petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans

Imports - partners: Brazil 29.9%, Argentina 16.2%, Chile 10.5%, US 9.8%, Peru 8.1% (2007)

Debt - external: $4.603 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:

Currency:

Currency code:

Exchange rates: bolivianos (BOB) per US dollar - 7.253 (2008 est.), 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004)

Fiscal year: