Laos Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
The government of Laos - one of the few remaining official Communist states - began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 7% in 1988-2001 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis beginning in 1997. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with a primitive infrastructure; it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal telecommunications. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The economy will continue to benefit from aid from the IMF and other international sources and from new foreign investment in food processing and mining.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $10.34 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.7% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 53%
industry: 23%
services: 24% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line:
40% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 30.6% (1997)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
37 (1997)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
7.8% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
2.6 million (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 80% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate:
5.7% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $211 million
expenditures: $462 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.)

Industries:
tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
9.7% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production:
1.317 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 1.4%
hydro: 98.6%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
824.8 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
400 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
2,750 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Agriculture - products:
sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice, water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry

Exports:
$332 million (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin

Exports - partners:
Thailand 21.5%, Vietnam 16.9%, France 8.6%, Germany 5.6% (2002)

Imports:
$492 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods

Imports - partners:
Thailand 60.7%, Vietnam 10.5%, China 8.2%, Singapore 4% (2002)

Debt - external:
$2.49 billion (2001)

Economic aid - recipient:
$243 million (2001 est.)

Currency:
kip (LAK)

Currency code:
LAK

Exchange rates:
kips per US dollar - 10,443 (2003), 10,056.3 (2002), 8,954.58 (2001), 7,887.64 (2000), 7,102.02 (1999)