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 exchange for a predetermined service fee. After higher prices for mining and hydrocarbons exports produced a fiscal surplus in 2008, the global recession in 2009 slowed growth. Nevertheless, Bolivia recorded the highest growth rate in South America that year. During 2010 an increase in world commodity prices resulted in the biggest trade surplus in history. However, a lack of foreign investment in the key sectors of mining and hydrocarbons and higher food prices pose challenges for the Bolivian economy.
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
4% (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 103
Labor Force
4.614 million (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 80
Electricity production
6.085 billion kWh (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 108
Electricity Consumption
5.814 billion kWh (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 108
Electricity Exports
0 kWh (2009 est.)
Electricity Imports
0 kWh (2010 est.)
Unemployment Rate
7.8% (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 85 7.9% (2009 est.) note: data are for urban areas; widespread underemployment
Population Below Poverty Line
30.3% note: based on percent of population living on less than the international standard of $2/day (2009 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 1%
Highest 10%: 45.4% (2007)
Distribution of Family Income Gini Index
58.2 (2009)country comparison to the world: 10 57.9 (1999)
Budget
Revenues: $8.623 billion
Expenditures: $8.239 billion (2010 est.)
Public Debt
38.1% of GDP (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 75 42.5% of GDP (2009 est.)
Central Bank Discount Rate
3% (31 December 2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 99 3% (31 December 2009 est.)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Narrow Money
$4.511 billion (31 December 2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 94 $3.524 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of Broad Money
$13.75 billion (31 December 2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 93 $12.16 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of Domestic Credit
$6.05 billion (31 December 2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 107 $5.695 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$3.388 billion (31 December 2010)country comparison to the world: 89 $2.792 billion (31 December 2009)$2.672 billion (31 December 2008)
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$9.73 billion (31 December 2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 71 $8.581 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Debt External
$6.164 billion (31 December 2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 105 $5.812 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
$7.257 billion (31 December 2010)country comparison to the world: 84 $6.876 billion (31 December 2009)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
$21 million (31 December 2010)country comparison to the world: 85 $63.8 million (31 December 2008)
Exchange Rates
bolivianos (BOB) per US dollar -7.04 (2010)7.07 (2009)7.253 (2008)7.8616 (2007)8.0159 (2006)
