Bolivia:
Economy

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Other pages in this profile of Bolivia:
Geography, People, Government, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.


Economy - overview	Definition 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, which was made the sole exporter of natural gas. The law also required that the state energy company regain control over the five companies that were privatized during the 1990s - a process that is still underway. In 2006, higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to about 12% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Debt relief from the G8 - announced in 2005 - also has significantly reduced Bolivia's public sector debt burden. Private investment as a share of GDP, however, remains among the lowest in Latin America, and inflation reached double-digit levels in 2007.
GDP (purchasing power parity)	Definition - World rank and map $39.44 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)	Definition $13.19 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	Definition - World rank and map 4.2% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita	Definition - World rank and map $4,000 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	Definition agriculture: 14.5% industry: 30.5% services: 55% (2006 est.)
Labor force	Definition 4.377 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	Definition agriculture: 40% industry: 17% services: 43% (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate	Definition - World rank and map 7.5% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	Definition 60% (2006 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	Definition lowest 10%: 0.3% highest 10%: 47.2% (2002)
Distribution of family income - Gini index	Definition - World rank and map 59.2 (2006)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	Definition - World rank and map 8.7% (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)	Definition - World rank and map 13.9% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget	Definition revenues: $4.1 billion expenditures: $5.495 billion (2007 est.)
Public debt	Definition - World rank and map 46.6% of GDP (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	Definition soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber
Industries	Definition mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing
Industrial production growth rate	Definition - World rank and map 1.1% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production	Definition - World rank and map 5.293 billion kWh (2006)
Electricity - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 3.385 billion kWh (2006)
Electricity - consumption per capita	Definition - World rank and map 366.1 kWh (2006)
Electricity - exports	Definition 177,000 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	Definition 18,000 kWh (2007)
Oil - production	Definition - World rank and map 41,570 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 31,500 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption per 1,000 people	Definition - World rank and map 3.4 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - exports	Definition - World rank and map 18,500 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports	Definition - World rank and map 8,600 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves	Definition - World rank and map 440.5 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production	Definition - World rank and map 12.74 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 1.486 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption per capita	Definition - World rank and map 161 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports	Definition - World rank and map 10.58 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - imports	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves	Definition - World rank and map 651.8 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance	Definition - World rank and map $1.758 billion (2007 est.)
Exports	Definition - World rank and map $4.49 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities	Definition natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin
Exports - partners	Definition Brazil 45.5%, Argentina 9.2%, US 8.7%, Colombia 6.8%, Japan 6.7%, South Korea 4.3% (2006)
Imports	Definition - World rank and map $3.215 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities	Definition petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans
Imports - partners	Definition Brazil 29.5%, Argentina 16.2%, Chile 10.3%, US 9.5%, Peru 8% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	Definition - World rank and map $5.307 billion (31 October 2007)
Debt - external	Definition - World rank and map $4.492 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home	Definition $6.88 billion (31 December 2004)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad	Definition $NA
Market value of publicly traded shares	Definition $2.2 billion (2005)
Economic aid - recipient	Definition $582.9 million (2005 est.)
Currency (code)	Definition boliviano (BOB)
Exchange rates	Definition bolivianos per US dollar - 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003)
Fiscal year	Definition calendar year

Bolivia: Economy

Bolivia:
Economy