Bosnia & Herzegovina Economy

Economy - overview: Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked next to Macedonia as the poorest republic in the old Yugoslav federation. Although agriculture is almost all in private hands, farms are small and inefficient, and the republic traditionally is a net importer of food. Industry has been greatly overstaffed, one reflection of the socialist economic structure of Yugoslavia. TITO had pushed the development of military industries in the republic with the result that Bosnia hosted a number of Yugoslavia's defense plants. The interethnic warfare in Bosnia 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 2003-2004. National-level statistics are limited and do not capture the large share of black market activity. The konvertibilna marka (convertible mark or BAM)- the national currency introduced in 1998 - is now pegged to the euro, and the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina has dramatically increased its reserve holdings. Implementation of privatization, however, has been slow, and local entities only reluctantly support national-level institutions. Banking reform accelerated in 2001 as all the Communist-era payments bureaus were shut down. A sizeable current account deficit and high unemployment rate remain the two most serious economic problems. The country receives substantial amounts of reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the international community but will have to prepare for an era of declining assistance.

GDP: 4.5% (FY02)

GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,500 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 14.2% industry: 30.8% services: 55% (2002)

Population below poverty line: 25% (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

Labor force: 1.026 million (2001)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA

Unemployment rate: 44% officially; however, grey economy may reduce actual unemployment to near 20% (2004 est.)

Budget: revenues: $3.618 billion expenditures: $3.642 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Industries: steel, coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, manganese, bauxite, vehicle assembly, textiles, tobacco products, wooden furniture, tank and aircraft assembly, domestic appliances, oil refining (2001)

Industrial production growth rate: 5.5% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production: 10.04 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - production by source:

Electricity - consumption: 8.318 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports: 3.288 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports: 2.271 billion kWh (2002)

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption: 20,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports: NA

Oil - imports: NA

Oil - proved reserves:

Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 300 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 300 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, fruits, vegetables; livestock

Exports: $1.7 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities: metals, clothing, wood products

Exports - partners: Italy 22.3%, Croatia 21.1%, Germany 20.8%, Austria 7.4%, Slovenia 7.1%, Hungary 4.8% (2004)

Imports: $5.2 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs

Imports - partners: Croatia 23.8%, Slovenia 15.8%, Germany 14.8%, Italy 11.4%, Austria 6.6%, Hungary 6.1% (2004)

Debt - external: $3 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $650 million (2001 est.)

Currency:

Currency code:

Exchange rates: marka per US dollar - 1.58 (2004), 1.73 (2003), 2.08 (2002), 2.19 (2001), 2.12 (2000) note: the marka is pegged to the euro

Fiscal year: calendar year



Links: Bosnia & Herzegovina Travel Blogs (all) | Bosnia & Herzegovina Travel Photos | Bosnia and Herzegovina Travel Forum | Bosnia and Herzegovina Facts | Map of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Areas in Bosnia & Herzegovina: East | North | South | West {#[blogfeed]#}{#[photos]#}