Economy of Bolivia

Economy of Bolivia
	La Paz, the capitol of Bolivia
Currency	Bolivian Boliviano (BOB)
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organizations	WTO, CAN, UNASUR, Mercosur
Country group	Developing/Emerging; Lower-middle income economy;
Statistics
Population	12,290,945 (2024)
GDP	$48.4 billion (nominal, 2024); $131.422 billion (PPP, 2024);
GDP rank	93rd (nominal, 2024); 93rd (PPP, 2024);
GDP growth	4.2% (2018) 2.7% (2019e); −5.9% (2020f) 2.2% (2021f);
GDP per capita	$4,014 (nominal, 2024); $10,693 (PPP, 2024);
GDP per capita rank	126th (nominal, 2024); 122nd (PPP, 2024);
GDP by sector	agriculture: 13.8%; industry: 37.8%; services: 48.2%; (2017 est.);
Inflation (CPI)	3.1% (2020 est.)
Population below poverty line	36.4% (2021); 10.6% on less than $3.20/day (2018);
Gini coefficient	40.9 medium (2018)
Human Development Index	0.698 medium (2022) (120th); 0.560 medium IHDI (99th) (2022);
Labor force	5,423,333 (2019); 69.3% employment rate (2018);
Labor force by occupation	agriculture: 29.4%; industry: 22%; services: 48.6%; (2015 est.);
Unemployment	4% (2017 est.); note: data are for urban areas; widespread underemployment;
Main industries	mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing, jewelry
External
Exports	$9.060 billion (2018 est.)
Export goods	natural gas, silver, zinc, lead, tin, gold, quinoa, soybeans and soy products
Main export partners	1. India: 16.5% ; 2. Brazil: 13.7% ; 3. Argentina: 12.8% ; 4. Colombia: 7.69% ; 5. Japan: 7.00% ; 6. Peru: 6.43% ; 7. China: 4.67% ; 8. South Korea: 3.91% ; 9. United Arab Emirates: 3.73% ; 10. Ecuador: 3.01% ; 11. United States: 2.83% ; 12. Netherlands: 1.79% ; 13. Chile: 1.77% ; 14. Belgium: 1.72% ; 15. Australia: 1.41% ; 16. Italy: 1.34% ; 17. Spain: 1.19% ; 18. United Kingdom: 1.17% ; 19. Hong Kong: 1.01% ; 20. Turkey: 0.98% ; Other Countries: 5.35% (2022);
Imports	$9.996 billion (2019 est.)
Import goods	machinery, petroleum products, vehicles, iron and steel, plastics
Main import partners	1. Brazil: 19.7% ; 2. China: 19.3% ; 3. Chile: 13.0% ; 4. Peru: 8.74% ; 5. Argentina: 5.98% ; 6. United States: 5.85% ; 7. Singapore: 2.43% ; 8. Germany: 2.15% ; 9. Mexico: 2.03% ; 10. Japan: 1.81% ; 11. Colombia: 1.59% ; 12. Spain: 1.36% ; 13. India: 1.33% ; 14. Italy: 1.05% ; 15. Paraguay: 1.04% ; 16. Netherlands: 1.03% ; 17. Russia: 0.83% ; 18. South Korea: 0.71% ; 19. Thailand: 0.70% ; 20. Uruguay: 0.65% ; Other Countries: 8.72% (2022);
FDI stock	$12.31 billion (31 December 2017 est.); Abroad: $0 (31 December 2017 est.);
Current account	−$2.375 billion (2017 est.)
Gross external debt	$12.81 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Public finances
Government debt	24.5% of GDP (2019 est.)
Foreign reserves	$10.26 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Budget balance	−7.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Revenues	15.09 billion (2017 est.)
Expenses	18.02 billion (2017 est.)
Economic aid	recipient: $726 million (2009 est.)
Credit rating	B+ (Domestic); B+ (Foreign); B+ (T&C Assessment); (Standard & Poor's)
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Bolivia is the 95th-largest in the world in nominal terms and the 87th-largest in purchasing power parity. Bolivia is classified by the World Bank to be a lower middle income country. With a Human Development Index of 0.703, it is ranked 114th (high human development). Driven largely by its natural resources, Bolivia has become a region leader in measures of economic growth, fiscal stability and foreign reserves, although it remains a historically poor country. The Bolivian economy has had a historic single-commodity focus. From silver to tin to coca, Bolivia has enjoyed only occasional periods of economic diversification. Political instability and difficult topography have constrained efforts to modernize the agricultural sector. Similarly, relatively low population growth coupled with low life expectancy has kept the labor supply in flux and prevented industries from flourishing. Rampant inflation and corruption previously created development challenges, but in the early twenty-first century the fundamentals of its economy showed unexpected improvement, leading Moody's Investors Service to upgrade Bolivia's economic rating in 2010 from B2 to B1. The mining industry, especially the extraction of natural gas and zinc, currently dominates Bolivia's export economy.

Between 2006 and 2019 (term of the presidency of the democratic socialist Evo Morales), GDP per capita doubled and the extreme poverty rate declined from 38% to 18%. The poverty rate declined from 22.23% in 2000 to 12.38% in 2010. Moreover, the Gini coefficient declined from 0.60 to 0.446. According to the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade, Bolivia had the lowest accumulated inflation of Latin America by October 2021. However, by late 2024 it had one of the highest rates of inflation in the region, amid a new, large-scale economic crisis.