ing from an
extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 7% in 1988-96.
Since mid-1996, however, reform efforts have slowed, and the economy
has suffered as a result. Because Laos depends heavily on its trade
with Thailand, it was further damaged by the regional financial crisis
beginning in 1997. From June 1997 to June 1999 the Lao kip lost 87%,
and reached a crisis point in September 1999 when it fluctuated
wildly, falling from 3,500 kip to the dollar to 9,000 kip to the
dollar in a matter of weeks. Now that the currency has stabilized,
however, the government seems content to let the current situation
persist, despite 140% inflation in 1999 and limited foreign exchange
reserves. A landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure, Laos
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. For the foreseeable future the
economy will continue to depend on aid from the IMF and other
international sources; Japan is currently the largest bilateral aid
donor; aid from the former USSR/Eastern Europe has been cut sharply.
As in many developing countries, deforestation and soil erosion will
hamper efforts to attain a high rate of GDP growth.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $7 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5.2% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,300 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 51%
industry: 22%
services: 27% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: 46.1% (1993 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4.2%
highest 10%: 26.4% (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 140% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 1 million - 1.5 million

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

Unemployment rate: 5.7% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $202.7 million
expenditures: $385.1 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(FY97/98 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 7.5% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 1.34 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 2.99%
hydro: 97.01%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 514 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 782