Economy - overview:
The interethnic warfare in Bosnia and Herzegovina caused production to plummet by 80% from 1992 to 1995 and unemployment to soar. With an uneasy peace in place, output recovered in 1996-99 at high percentage rates from a low base; but output growth slowed in 2000-02. Part of the lag in output was made up in 2003-08 when GDP growth exceeded 5% per year. Banking reform accelerated in 2001 as all the Communist-era payments bureaus were shut down; foreign banks, primarily from Western Europe, now control most of the banking sector. The konvertibilna marka (convertible mark or BAM)- the national currency introduced in 1998 - is pegged to the euro, and confidence in the currency and the banking sector has increased. Bosnia's private sector is growing and foreign investment is slowly increasing, but government spending, at nearly 40% of adjusted GDP, remains high because of redundant government offices at the state, entity and municipal level. Implementing privatization, however, has been slow, particularly in the Federation where political division between ethnically-based political parties makes agreement on economic policy more difficult. A sizeable current account deficit and high unemployment rate remain the two most serious macroeconomic problems. Successful implementation of a value-added tax in 2006 provided a predictable source of revenue for the government and helped rein in gray market activity. National-level statistics have also improved over time but a large share of economic activity remains unofficial and unrecorded. Bosnia and Herzegovina became a full member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement in September 2007. In 2009, Bosnia's economy was hurt by the global financial downturn, with GDP, exports, and employment all showing declines. One of Bosnia's main challenges has been to cut public sector wages and social benefits to meet the IMF's budget deficit criteria and qualify for additional tranches of Fund aid.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$29.25 billion (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
$16.96 billion (2009 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
-2.9% (2009 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$6,300 (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10.2%
industry:
23.9%
services:
66% (2006 est.)
Labor force:
1.863 million (2007)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 19.8%
industry:
32.6%
services:
47.6% (2007)
Unemployment rate:
40% (2009 est.)
note: official rate; gray economy may reduce actual unemployment to 25-30%
Population below poverty line:
25% (2004 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%:
27.4% (2004)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
56.2 (2007)
Budget:
revenues: $7.814 billion
expenditures:
$8.571 billion (2009 est.)
Public debt:
43% of GDP (2009 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
0.6% (2009 est.)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
6.98% (31 December 2008)
Stock of money:
$4.49 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of quasi money:
$5.614 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of domestic credit:
$10.26 billion (31 December 2008)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA
Agriculture - products:
wheat, corn, fruits, vegetables; livestock
Industries:
steel, coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, manganese, bauxite, vehicle assembly, textiles, tobacco products, wooden furniture, tank and aircraft assembly, domestic appliances, oil refining
Industrial production growth rate:
11.6% (2008 est.)
Electricity - production:
11.32 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
8.488 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports:
4.344 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
3.743 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption:
29,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - exports:
192 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports:
25,990 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
310 million cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
310 million cu m
Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
Current account balance:
$-1.599 billion (2009 est.)
Exports:
$4.363 billion (2009 est.)
Exports - commodities:
metals, clothing, wood products
Exports - partners:
Croatia 20.7%, Slovenia 16.7%, Italy 16.7%, Germany 13%, Austria 10.3%, Hungary 4.8% (2008)
Imports:
$9.952 billion (2009 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Croatia 24.6%, Slovenia 12.7%, Germany 12.3%, Italy 10.5%, Hungary 6.6%, Turkey 6.5%, Austria 6.3% (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$3.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Debt - external:
$8.415 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Exchange rates:
konvertibilna markas (BAM) per US dollar - 1.4352 (2009), 1.3083 (2008), 1.4419 (2007), 1.5576 (2006), 1.5727 (2005)
note:
the convertible mark is pegged to the euro
NOTE: The information regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina on this page is re-published from the 2010 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bosnia and Herzegovina Economy 2010 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bosnia and Herzegovina Economy 2010 should be addressed to the CIA.
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This page was last modified 09-Feb-10