Laos 
Facts
Population:
5,635,967 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
42.75% (male 1,212,577; female 1,196,795)
15-64 years:
53.94% (male 1,494,927; female 1,544,851)
65 years and over:
3.31% (male 85,632; female 101,185) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.48% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
37.84 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
13.02 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.85 male(s)/female
total population:
0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
92.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
53.48 years
male:
51.58 years
female:
55.44 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.12 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.05% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1,400 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
130 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
adjective:
Lao or Laotian
Ethnic groups:
Lao Loum (lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%, Lao Soung (highland) including the Hmong ("Meo") and the Yao (Mien) 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1%
Religions:
Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40%
Languages:
Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
57%
male:
70%
female:
44% (1999 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $9 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
51%
industry:
22%
services:
27% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
46.1% (1993 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
4.2%
highest 10%:
26.4% (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
33% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
1 million - 1.5 million
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 80% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate:
5.7% (1997 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$211 million
expenditures:
$462 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.)
Industries:
tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
7.5% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production:
792 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
2.78%
hydro:
97.22%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
173.6 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
705 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
142 million kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton; tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry
Exports:
$323 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
wood products, garments, electricity, coffee, tin
Exports - partners:
Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, France, Belgium
Imports:
$540 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel
Imports - partners:
Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, China, Singapore, Hong Kong
Debt - external:
$2.46 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$345 million (1999 est.)
Currency:
kip (LAK)
Currency code:
LAK
Exchange rates:
kips per US dollar - 7,578.00 (December 2000), 7,102.03 (1999), 3,298.33 (1998), 1,259.98 (1997), 921.02 (1996)
Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
Xat Lao
(Pro-government), Vientiane
Laos in the News
1 2 
Displaying 1 to 4 of 6 items.
Bounsang Khamkeo survived seven years in the secret jungle prisons of the Communist Pathet Lao. His memoir,
The ragtag Hmong guerrillas are one of many small groups estimated to number between 2,000 and 12,000 still hiding in the mountains of Laos.
The poor Southeast Asian nation of Laos still bears the scars from the most extensive U.S.-led aerial bombing campaign since World War II.
The situation in Laos today - gross corruption, unpaid deserting soldiers, and an economy dependent on foreign aid closely resembles the scene in the late 1950's. All that's missing is a war in Vietnam.
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