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. In early 2008, higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to 9.4% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Private investment as a share of GDP, however, remains among the lowest in Latin America, and inflation remained at double-digit levels in 2008. The decline in commodity prices in late 2008, the lack of foreign investment in the mining and hydrocarbon sectors, and the suspension of trade benefits with the United States will pose challenges for the Bolivian economy in 2009.
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
10.6% (2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 10
Labor Force
4.454 million (2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 80
Electricity production
5.495 billion kWh (2007 est.)country comparison to the world: 111
Electricity Consumption
4.665 billion kWh (2007 est.)country comparison to the world: 111
Electricity Exports
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity Imports
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Unemployment Rate
7.5% (2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 98 7.5% (2007 est.) note: data are for urban areas; widespread underemployment
Population Below Poverty Line
60% (2006 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 0.5%
Highest 10%: 44.1% (2005)
Distribution of Family Income Gini Index
59.2 (2006)country comparison to the world: 7 44.7 (1999)
Budget
Revenues: $8.039 billion
Expenditures: $7.5 billion (2008 est.)
Public Debt
45.2% of GDP (2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 43 46.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
Central Bank Discount Rate
13% (31 December 2008)country comparison to the world: 59 6.5% (31 December 2007)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Domestic Credit
$5.433 billion (31 December 2008)country comparison to the world: 81 $4.759 billion (31 December 2007)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$NA (31 December 2008)country comparison to the world: 97 $2.263 billion (31 December 2007)$2.223 billion (31 December 2006)
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$7.722 billion (31 December 2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 74 $5.318 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt External
$5.931 billion (31 December 2008)country comparison to the world: 102 $5.385 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
$5.998 billion (31 December 2008)country comparison to the world: 87
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
$NA
Exchange Rates
bolivianos (BOB) per US dollar - 7.253 (2008 est.), 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004)
