001)

Electricity - consumption:
824.7 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 (2001)

Oil - imports:
NA (2001)

Current account balance:
$-58 million (2003)

Exports:
$332 million (2003 est.)

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

Exports - partners:
Thailand 20.7%, Vietnam 15.9%, France 7.3%, Germany 5.3%, Belgium
4% (2003)

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

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

Imports - partners:
Thailand 59.4%, China 12.8%, Vietnam 10.2% (2003)

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$201 million (2003)

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)

Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September

Communications Laos

Telephones - main lines in use:
61,900 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
55,200 (2002)

Telephone system:
general assessment: service to general public is poor but improving
with over 20,000 telephones currently in service and an additional
48,000 expected by 2001; the government relies on a radiotelephone
network to communicate with remote areas
domestic: radiotelephone communications
international: country code - 856; satellite earth station - 1
Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region)

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 4 (1998)

Radios:
730,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
4 (1999)

Televisions:
52,000 (1997)

Internet country code:
.la

Internet hosts:
937 (2003)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1 (2000)

Internet users:
15,000 (2002)

Transportation Laos

Highways:
total: 21,716 km
paved: 9,664 km
unpaved: 12,052 km (1999 est.)

Waterways:
4,600 km
note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are
intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2003)

Pipelines:
refined products 540 km (2004)

Ports and harbors:
none

Merchant marine:
total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT
by type: