Economy - overview: Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked next to The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as the poorest republic in the old Yugoslav federation. Although agriculture has been almost all in private hands, farms have been small and inefficient, and the republic traditionally has been 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 large share of Yugoslavia's defense plants. The bitter interethnic warfare in Bosnia caused production to plummet by 80% from 1990 to 1995, unemployment to soar, and human misery to multiply. With an uneasy peace in place, output recovered in 1996-98 at high percentage rates on a low base; but output growth slowed appreciably in 1999, and GDP remains far below the 1990 level. Economic data are of limited use because, although both entities issue figures, national-level statistics are not available. Moreover, official data do not capture the large share of activity that occurs on the black market. In 1999, the convertible mark - the national currency introduced in 1998 - gained wider acceptance, and the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina dramatically increased its reserve holdings. Implementation of privatization, however, faltered in both areas. Banking reform is also lagging. 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: purchasing power parity - $6.2 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,770 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 19%
industry: 23%
services: 58% (1996 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (1997 est.)

Labor force: 1.026 million

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

Unemployment rate: 35%-40% (1999 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $1.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 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 (much of capacity damaged or shut down) (1995)

Industrial production growth rate: 5%-10% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 2.22 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 32.43%
hydro: 67.57%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 2.065 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)

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

Exports: $450 million (1997 est.)

Exports - commodities: NA

Exports - partners: NA

Imports: $2.95 billion (1997 est.)

Imports - commodities: NA

Imports - partners: NA

Debt - external: $4.1 billion (1997 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $1.2 billion (1997 pledged)

Currency: 1 convertible marka (KM) = 100 convertible pfenniga

Exchange rates: convertible marks per US$1 - 1.9 (1999)

Fiscal year: calendar year