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, 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.
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
1.1% (2007 est.)
Labor Force
4.377 million (2007 est.)
Electricity production
5.668 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity Consumption
5.092 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity Exports
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity Imports
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Unemployment Rate
7.5% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2007 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)
Budget
Revenues: $5.723 billion
Expenditures: $5.495 billion (2007 est.)
Public Debt
46.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
Central Bank Discount Rate
6.5% (31 December 2007)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Domestic Credit
$4.759 billion (31 December 2007)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$2.2 billion (2005)
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$5.318 billion (31 October 2007)
Debt External
$4.495 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
$6.88 billion (31 December 2004)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
$NA
Exchange Rates
bolivianos (BOB) per US dollar - 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003)
