Peru Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
Peru's economy reflects its varied geography - an arid coastal region, the Andes further inland, and tropical lands bordering Colombia and Brazil. Abundant mineral resources are found in the mountainous areas, and Peru's coastal waters provide excellent fishing grounds. However, overdependence on minerals and metals subjects the economy to fluctuations in world prices, and a lack of infrastructure deters trade and investment. After several years of inconsistent economic performance, the Peruvian economy grew by an average 4 percent per year during the period 2002-2004, with a stable exchange rate and low inflation. Risk premiums on Peruvian bonds on secondary markets reached historically low levels in late 2004, reflecting investor optimism regarding the government's prudent fiscal policies and openness to trade and investment. Despite the strong macroeconomic performance, the TOLEDO administration remained unpopular in 2004, and unemployment and poverty have stayed persistently high.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $155.3 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
4.5% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $5,600 (2004 est.)

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

Labor force:
11 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 9%, industry 18%, services 73% (2001)

Unemployment rate:
9.6% in metropolitan Lima; widespread underemployment (2004 est.)

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

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.8%
highest 10%: 37.2% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
49.8 (2000)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.8% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
17.8% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $13.6 billion
expenditures: $14.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.8 billion, for general government, excluding private enterprises (2004 est.)

Public debt:
44.1% of GDP (2004 est.)

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

Industries:
mining and refining of minerals and metals, petroleum extraction and refining, natural gas, fishing and fish processing, textiles, clothing, food processing, steel, metal fabrication

Industrial production growth rate:
5.2% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:
22.88 billion kWh (2004 est.)

Electricity - consumption:
20.22 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
95,500 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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

Oil - exports:
49,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
408.8 million bbl (2004 est.)

Natural gas - production:
910 million cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
910 million cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
245.1 billion cu m (2004)

Current account balance:
$-30 million (2004 est.)

Exports:
$12.3 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
copper, gold, zinc, crude petroleum and petroleum products, coffee

Exports - partners:
US 29.5%, China 9.8%, UK 8%, Chile 5.3%, Japan 4.7%, Switzerland 4.4% (2004)

Imports:
$9.6 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
petroleum and petroleum products, plastics, machinery, vehicles, iron and steel, wheat, paper

Imports - partners:
US 29.2%, Spain 8.5%, Chile 6.9%, Brazil 5.6%, Colombia 5.2%, China 4% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$12.7 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$29.79 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$491 million (2002)

Currency (code):
nuevo sol (PEN)

Exchange rates:
nuevo sol per US dollar - 3.4132 (2004), 3.4785 (2003), 3.5165 (2002), 3.5068 (2001), 3.49 (2000)