pped by the words REPUBLICA
DEL PARAGUAY, all within two circles)

@Paraguay:Economy

Economy - overview: Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large
informal sector. The informal sector features both reexport of
imported consumer goods to neighboring countries as well as the
activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors.
Because of the importance of the informal sector, accurate economic
measures are difficult to obtain. A large percentage of the population
derive their living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence
basis. The formal economy grew by an average of about 3% annually in
1995-97, but GDP declined slightly in 1998 and 1999. On a per capita
basis, real income has stagnated at 1980 levels. Most observers
attribute Paraguay's poor economic performance to political
uncertainty, corruption, lack of progress on structural reform, and
deficient infrastructure. Growth should recover in 2000, perhaps to
2%.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $19.9 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: -1% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,650 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 28%
industry: 21%
services: 51% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: 32% (1997-98 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.7%
highest 10%: 46.6% (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (1999)

Labor force: 1.7 million (1996)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 45%

Unemployment rate: 12% (1998 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.9 billion
expenditures: $2.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $700
million (1995 est.)

Industries: sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood products

Industrial production growth rate: -4% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 50.324 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 0.12%
hydro: 99.66%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0.22% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 1.494 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 45.307 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: cotton, sugarcane, soybeans, corn, wheat,
tobacco, cassava (tapioca), fruits, vegetables; beef, pork, eggs,
milk; timber

Exports: $3.1 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Exports - commodities: soybeans, feed, cotton, meat, edible oils

Exports - partners: Brazil, Argentina, EU

Imports: $3.2 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Imports - commodities: road