Paraguay Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
Landlocked Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large informal sector. This 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 derives its living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis. 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, substantial internal and external debt, and deficient infrastructure. Aided by a firmer exchange rate and perhaps a greater confidence in the economic policy of the DUARTE FRUTOS administration, the economy rebounded between 2003 and 2007, posting modest growth each year.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$26.55 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$8.258 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
4% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$4,000 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 21.9%
industry: 18.7%
services: 59.4% (2007 est.)

Labor force:
2.757 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 45%
industry: NA%
services: NA% (2003)

Unemployment rate:
15.9% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:
32% (2005 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.7%
highest 10%: 46.1% (2003)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
58.4 (2003)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.6% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
19.8% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.118 billion
expenditures: $2.183 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:
24.6% of GDP (2007 est.)

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

Industries:
sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood products, steel, metallurgic, electric power

Industrial production growth rate:
3.4% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:
50.66 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
4.497 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
43.79 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
27,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
25,940 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
-$82 million (2007 est.)

Exports:
$6.712 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:
soybeans, feed, cotton, meat, edible oils, electricity, wood, leather

Exports - partners:
Uruguay 22%, Brazil 17.2%, Russia 11.9%, Argentina 8.8%, Chile 6.9% (2006)

Imports:
$7.557 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - partners:
China 27%, Brazil 20%, Argentina 13.6%, Japan 8.3%, US 6.4% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$51.09 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$2.407 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:
$3.632 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$233.8 million (2005)

Currency (code):
guarani (PYG)

Exchange rates:
guarani per US dollar - 5,094 (2007), 5,672.8 (2006), 6,178 (2005), 5,974.6 (2004), 6,424.3 (2003)