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Paraguay's Economy
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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 derives 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, substantial internal and external debt, and deficient infrastructure. Growth rebounded slightly in 2000.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $26.2 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,750 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 28%

industry: 21%

services: 51% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: 36% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest10%: 0.7%

highest 10%: 46.6% (1995)

Inflation Rate (consumer prices): 8% (2000 est.)

Labor Force: 2 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - By Occupation: agriculture 45%

Unemployment Rate: 16% (2000 est.)

Budget: Revenues: $1.3 billion

Expenditures: $2 billion, including capital expenditures of $700 million (1999 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 0% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: 51.554 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 0.07%

hydro: 99.79%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0.15% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 1.915 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 46.03 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

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

Exports: $3.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

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

Exports - partners: Brazil, Argentina, EU

Imports: $3.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: road vehicles, consumer goods, tobacco, petroleum products, electrical machinery

Imports - partners: Brazil, US, Argentina, Uruguay, EU, Hong Kong

Debt - external: $3 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $NA

Currency: guarani (PYG)

Currency code: PYG

Exchange rates: guarani per US dollar - 3,570.0 (January 2001), 3,486.4 (2000), 3,119.1 (1999), 2,726.5 (1998), 2,177.9 (1997), 2,056.8 (1996); note - since early 1998, the exchange rate has operated as a managed float; prior to that, the exchange rate was determined freely in the market
Fiscal year: calendar year
 
 

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