Czech Republic Economy
Economy - overviewOne of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states, the Czech Republic has been recovering from recession since mid-1999. Growth in 2000-03 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a near doubling of foreign direct investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as interest rates drop and the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. High current account deficits - averaging around 5% of GDP in the last several years - could be a persistent problem. Inflation is under control. The EU put the Czech Republic just behind Poland and Hungary in preparations for accession, which will give further impetus and direction to structural reform. Moves to complete banking, telecommunications, and energy privatization will encourage additional foreign investment, while intensified restructuring among large enterprises and banks, and improvements in the financial sector, should strengthen output growth. Nonetheless, revival in the European economies remains essential to stepped-up growth.
GDP
purchasing power parity - $161.1 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
2.9% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita
purchasing power parity - $15,700 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 3.1%
industry: 35.5%
services: 61.4% (2003)
Investment
26% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line
NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 4.3%
highest 10%: 22.4% (1996)
Distribution of family income - Gini index
25.4 (1996)
Inflation rate
0.1% (2003 est.)
Labor force
5.25 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation
agriculture 5%, industry 35%, services 60% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate
9.9% (2003)
Budget
revenues: $33.25 billion
expenditures: $38.88 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)
Public debt
29.7% of GDP (2003)
Agriculture - products
wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry
Industries
metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments
Industrial production growth rate
3.3% (2003)
Electricity - production
70.04 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption
55.6 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports
18.92 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports
9.38 billion kWh (2001)
Oil - production
7,419 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption
175,700 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports
26,670 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports
192,300 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves
17.25 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production
160 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption
9.892 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports
1 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports
9.521 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves
3.057 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance
$-5.57 billion (2003)
Exports
$46.77 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities
machinery and transport equipment 44%, intermediate manufactures 25%, chemicals 7%, raw materials and fuel 7% (2000)
Exports - partners
Germany 37.1%, Slovakia 8%, Austria 6.3%, UK 5.4%, Poland 4.8%, France 4.7%, Italy 4.5%, Netherlands 4.1% (2003)
Imports
$50.4 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities
machinery and transport equipment 40%, intermediate manufactures 21%, raw materials and fuels 13%, chemicals 11% (2000)
Imports - partners
Germany 32.6%, Italy 5.3%, China 5.2%, Slovakia 5.2%, France 4.9%, Russia 4.6%, Austria 4.3%, Poland 4.2% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold
$26.8 billion (2003)
Debt - external
$28 billion (2003)
Currency
Czech koruna (CZK)
Currency code
CZK
Exchange rates
koruny per US dollar - 28.209 (2003), 32.7385 (2002), 38.0353 (2001), 38.5984 (2000), 34.5692 (1999)
