)

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: 7.5% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 1.02 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 1.96% hydro: 98.04%
other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 690.6 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 400 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 142 million kWh (2000)

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

Exports: $325 million (2001 est.)

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

Exports - partners: Thailand 20%, France 7.5%, Germany 5.9%, UK 4.1%,
Belgium 4% (2000)

Imports: $540 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel

Imports - partners: Thailand 52%, Singapore 3.9%, Japan 1.6%, Hong Kong
1.5%, China 0.8% (2000)

Debt - external: $2.53 billion (1999)

Economic aid - recipient: $345 million (1999 est.)

Currency: kip (LAK)

Currency code: LAK

Exchange rates: kips per US dollar - 9,467.00 (December 2001), 8,954.58
(2001), 7,887.64 (2000), 7,102.03 (1999), 3,298.33 (1998), 1,259.98 (1997)

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September

Communications Laos

Telephones - main lines in use: 25,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 4,915 (1997)

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: 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 Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: 6,000 (2001)

Transportation Laos

Railways: 0 km (2001)

Highways: total: 14,000 km paved: 3,360 km unpaved: 10,640 km (1991)

Waterways: 4,587 km app