Bolivia Economy
Economy - overviewBolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, made considerable progress in the 1990s 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 becoming an associate member of the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), as well as the privatization of the state airline, telephone company, railroad, electric power company, and oil company. 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 held down growth to 2.5%. Bolivia's GDP failed to grow in 2001 due to the global slowdown and laggard domestic activity. Growth picked up slightly in 2002, but the first quarter of 2003 saw extensive civil riots and looting and loss of confidence in the government. Bolivia will remain highly dependent on foreign aid unless and until it can develop its substantial natural resources.
GDP
purchasing power parity - $21.01 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
2.5% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita
purchasing power parity - $2,400 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 15%
industry: 33.2%
services: 51.9% (2003 est.)
Investment
12.4% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line
70% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 1.3%
highest 10%: 32% (1999)
Distribution of family income - Gini index
44.7 (1999)
Inflation rate
3.3% (2003 est.)
Labor force
4.1 million (2003)
Labor force - by occupation
agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA
Unemployment rate
11.7%
note: widespread underemployment (2003)
Budget
revenues: $2.346 billion
expenditures: $2.957 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2003)
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
3.9% (1998)
Electricity - production
3.901 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption
3.634 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports
3 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports
9 million kWh (2001)
Oil - production
44,340 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption
49,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports
NA (2001)
Oil - imports
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves
458.8 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production
4.05 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption
1.15 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports
2.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves
727.2 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance
$50 million (2003)
Exports
$1.495 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities
soybeans, natural gas, zinc, gold, wood (2000)
Exports - partners
Brazil 37%, Venezuela 12.9%, Colombia 11.9%, US 11.5%, Peru 5.1% (2003)
Imports
$1.505 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities
capital goods, raw materials and semi-manufactures, chemicals, petroleum, food
Imports - partners
Brazil 25.2%, Argentina 22.3%, US 12%, Chile 9.3%, Peru 5.8% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold
$1.096 billion (2003)
Debt - external
$5.332 billion (2003 est.)
Currency
boliviano (BOB)
Currency code
BOB
Exchange rates
bolivianos per US dollar - 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002), 6.6069 (2001), 6.1835 (2000), 5.8124 (1999)
