macroeconomic performance, political intrigue and allegations of
corruption continued to swirl in 2003, with the TOLEDO
administration growing increasingly unpopular, and local and foreign
concern rising that the political turmoil could place the country's
hard-won fiscal and financial stability at risk. Moreover, as of
late 2003, unemployment had yet to respond to the strong growth in
economic activity, owing in part to rigid labor market regulations
that act as an impediment to hiring.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $146 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
4% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $5,100 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 8%
industry: 27%
services: 65% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
17.7% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
54% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 35.4% (1996)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
46.2 (1996)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.3% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
8.63 million (2003 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 5.9%, mining and quarrying 0.4%, manufacturing 12.6%,
construction 5.3%, commerce 26.3%, household work 4.9%, other
services 44.6% (2004)

Unemployment rate:
9.7%; widespread underemployment (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $15.86 billion
expenditures: $17.05 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.6
billion (2003 est.)

Public debt:
49.2% of GDP (2003)

Agriculture - products:
coffee, cotton, sugarcane, rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, plantains,
coca; poultry, beef, dairy products, wool; fish

Industries:
mining of metals, petroleum, fishing, textiles, clothing, food
processing, cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding, metal
fabrication

Industrial production growth rate:
2% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
20.59 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
19.15 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
95,100 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
161,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA (2001)

Oil - imports:
NA (2001)

Oil - proved reserves:
614.7 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:
370 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
370 million cu m