UNData app

General Information

Region		South-eastern Asia
Population (000, 2021)		7 379^a
Pop. density (per km2, 2021)		32^a
Capital city		Vientiane
Capital city pop. (000, 2021)		673.1^b
UN membership date		14-Dec-55
Surface area (km2)		236 800^b
Sex ratio (m per 100 f)		100.8^a
National currency		Lao Kip (LAK)
Exchange rate (per US$)		9 274.0^c

Economic indicators

	2010	2015	2021
GDP: Gross domestic product (million current US$)	7 313	14 390	18 823^b
GDP growth rate (annual %, const. 2015 prices)	8.1	7.3	4.7^b
GDP per capita (current US$)	1 170.3	2 134.7	2 625.4^b
Economy: Agriculture^d (% of Gross Value Added)	23.6	19.7	17.2^b
Economy: Industry^e,f (% of Gross Value Added)	30.9	31	34.8^b
Economy: Services and other activity^g (% of GVA)	45.5	49.4	48^b
Employment in agriculture (% of employed)	71.5	65.9^h	61.7^h,c
Employment in industry (% of employed)	8.3	10.6^h	12.2^h,c
Employment in services (% employed)	20.2	23.5^h	26.2^h,c
Unemployment^h (% of labour force)	0.7	0.7	0.6^c
Labour force participation rate^h (female/male pop. %)	76.8 / 79.4	76.8 / 80.2	76.8 / 80.2^c
CPI: Consumer Price Index^h (2010=100)	100ⁱ	126	143^c
Agricultural production index (2014-2016=100)	62	104	102^b
International trade: exports (million current US$)	1 909	2 985	5 669^h,c
International trade: imports (million current US$)	1 837	3 778	6 309^h,c
International trade: balance (million current US$)	72	-793	-639^h,c
Balance of payments, current account (million US$)	29	- 2 268	-947^b

Social indicators

	2010	2015	2021
Population growth rate^j (average annual %)	1.7	1.5	1.5^c
Urban population (% of total population)	30.1	33.1	35.6^b
Urban population growth rate^j (average annual %)	3.7	3.2	...
Fertility rate, total^j (live births per woman)	3.4	2.9	2.7^c
Life expectancy at birth^j (females/males, years)	64.8 / 61.2	67.3 / 63.7	69.2 / 65.7^c
Population age distribution (0-14/60+ years old, %)	36.4 / 5.6	33.6 / 6.1	31.6 / 7.0^a
International migrant stock^k,l (000/% of total pop.)	33.0 / 0.5	45.5 / 0.7	48.7 / 0.7^c
Refugees and others of concern to UNHCR (000)	...	...	~0.0^c
Infant mortality rate^j (per 1 000 live births)	57.5	47	38.8^c
Health: Current expenditure^m (% of GDP)	2.9	2.5ⁿ	2.2^n,o
Health: Physicians (per 1 000 pop.)	0.2^p	0.5^q	0.4^r
Education: Government expenditure (% of GDP)	1.7	2.9^q	...
Education: Primary gross enrol. ratio (f/m per 100 pop.)	117.9 / 128.9	111.3 / 116.6	98.3 / 101.8^b
Education: Secondary gross enrol. ratio (f/m per 100 pop.)	42.3 / 51.5	60.7 / 66.1	63.6 / 67.9^b
Education: Upper secondary gross enrol. ratio (f/m per 100 pop.)	28.4 / 35.2	42.6 / 47.8	49.3 / 55.2^b
Seats held by women in national parliaments (%)	25.2	25	27.5^s

Environment and infrastructure indicators

	2010	2015	2021
Individuals using the Internet (per 100 inhabitants)	7	18.2^h	25.5^h,r
Threatened species (number)	132	210	267
Forested area^h (% of land area)	73.4	72.7	72.2^o
CO2 emission estimates (million tons/tons per capita)	2.4 / 0.4	7.7 / 1.1	17.8 / 2.5^o
Energy production, primary (Petajoules)	98	162	291^h,o
Energy supply per capita (Gigajoules)	16	25	34^o
Tourist/visitor arrivals at national borders (000)	1 670	3 543	4 384^b
Important sites for terrestrial biodiversity protected (%)	44	44	44^c
Pop. using safely managed drinking water (urban/rural, %)	24.3 / 9.2	25.8 / 11.0	27.0 / 12.4^c
Pop. using safely managed sanitation (urban/rural %)	55.7 / 39.1	60.9 / 50.7	63.3 / 60.3^c
Net Official Development Assist. received (% of GNI)	5.83	3.43	3.5^b

Footnotes

a		Projected estimate (medium fertility variant).
b		2019
c		2020
d		Excludes irrigation canals and landscaping care.
e		Excludes publishing activities.
f		Includes irrigation canals.
g		Excludes repair of personal and household goods.
h		Estimate.
i		Break in the time series.
j		Data refers to a 5-year period preceding the reference year.
k		Refers to foreign citizens.
l		Including refugees.
m		Data refer to fiscal years ending 30 September.
n		Data are based on SHA2011.
o		2018
p		2009
q		2014
r		2017
s		Data are as at 1 January of reporting year.