Economy - overview:
Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, reformed its economy after suffering a disastrous economic crisis in the early 1980s. The reforms spurred real GDP growth, which averaged 4% in the 1990s, and poverty rates fell. Economic growth, however, lagged again beginning in 1999 because of a global slowdown and homegrown factors such as political turmoil, civil unrest, and soaring fiscal deficits, all of which hurt investor confidence. In 2003, violent protests against the pro-foreign investment economic policies of President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA led to his resignation and the cancellation of plans to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial natural gas law that imposes on the oil and gas firms significantly higher taxes as well as new contracts that give the state control of their operations. Bolivian officials are in the process of implementing the law; meanwhile, foreign investors have stopped investing and have taken the first legal steps to secure their investments. Real GDP growth in 2003-05 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive, but still below the levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia's fiscal position has improved in recent years, but the country remains dependent on foreign aid from multilateral lenders and foreign governments to meet budget shortfalls. In 2005, the G8 announced a $2 billion debt-forgiveness plan over the next few decades that should help reduce some fiscal pressures on the government in the near term.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$23.73 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$9.848 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3.4% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,700 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 12.6%
industry: 35%
services: 52.4% (2005 est.)
Labor force:
4.22 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%
Unemployment rate:
8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2005 est.)
Population below poverty line:
64% (2004 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.3%
highest 10%: 32% (1999)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
60.6 (2002)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.9% (2005 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
9% of GDP (2005 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $2.848 billion
expenditures: $3.189 billion; including capital expenditures of $741 million (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products:
soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber
Industries:
mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing
Industrial production growth rate:
5.7% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production:
4.25 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - consumption:
3.963 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports:
10 million kWh (2003)
Oil - production:
42,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:
48,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day
Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day
Oil - proved reserves:
458.8 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production:
6.72 billion cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
1.74 billion cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
2.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
679.6 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance:
$376 million (2005 est.)
Exports:
$2.371 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - commodities:
natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin
Exports - partners:
Brazil 32.1%, US 16.2%, Venezuela 11%, Peru 6.2%, Argentina 5.9%, Colombia 5.4% (2004)
Imports:
$1.845 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - commodities:
petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans
Imports - partners:
Brazil 25.8%, Argentina 15.6%, US 13.8%, Peru 6.7%, Chile 5.9%, China 5.7%, Japan 5.6% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.688 billion (December 2005)
Debt - external:
$6.43 billion (2005 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$221 million (2005 est.)
Currency (code):
boliviano (BOB)
Exchange rates:
bolivianos per US dollar - 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002), 6.6069 (2001)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
