Multi‑dimensional Review of Lao PDR

Facts and figures of Lao PDR

 

People: Towards better lives for all
Population (millions)	7.5		Life expectancy (years)	68.1(2021)	(78.7) (2021)
Under 15 (%)	30.6	(17.2)	Men	66.2(2021)	(75.9) (2021)
Over 65 (%)	4.5	(18.0)	Women	70.1(2021)	(81.8) (2021)
Urban population (% of total)	37.6	(81.5)	Current health expenditure (% of GDP)	2.7 (2020)	(13.9) (2020)
Income inequality (Gini coefficient)	38.8 (2018)	(32.5) (2021)	Lower secondary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group)	58.0	(95.1)
Poverty headcount ratio at $6.85 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population)	70.5 (2018)	(3.3) (2021)	Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)	1.4	(5.0) (2021)
Unemployment rate (% of total labour force, national estimate)	1.2	(5.1)	Labour force participation rate (% of total population aged 15-64)	62.0	(72.8)
Firms with female top manager (% of firms)	43.1 (2018)	(17.3) (2021)	Vulnerable employment, total (% of total employment)	78.3	(12.6)
Prosperity: Boosting productivity
GDP in current USD billion	15.5		Share of GDP:
GDP growth (annual %)	2.7	(2.8)	Agriculture, forestry and fishing (%)	14.9	(1.4) (2021)
GDP per capita, PPP (constant 2017 international $)	7947.7	(46234.4)	Industry, including construction (%)	34.1	(21.9) (2021)
GDP per capita growth (annual %)	1.3	(2.4)	Services (%)	40.3	(70.1) (2021)
Exports of goods and services (% of GDP)	33.2 (2016)	(30.8)	Share of employment:
Imports of goods and services (% of GDP)	41.9 (2016)	(31.8)	Agriculture, forestry and fishing (%)	69.6	(4.7)
Current account balance (% of GDP)	-0.1		Industry, including construction (%)	7.2	(22.3)
			Services (%)	23.2	(73.0)
Planet: Conserving nature
Forest area (% of land area)	71.8 (2021)	(32.9)	Agricultural land (% of land area)	8.8(2021)	(33.9) (2021)
Total primary energy supply (TPES) per capita (toe)	0.1 (2021)	(0.1)	CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per capita (tonnes)	2.6(2020)	(7.7) (2020)
Renewables (% of TPES)	75.6 (2020)	(11.7) (2021)	CO2 emissions (kg per PPP $ of GDP)	0.3(2020)	(0.2) (2020)
Renewables, excluding hydropower (% of total energy production)	45.8 (2020)	(7.8) (2021)	Fine particulate matter concentration (PM2.5, g/m3), mean annual exposure	20.5 (2019)	(13.8) (2019)
Financing sustainable development:
Tax revenue (% of GDP)	9.7 (2021)	(16.3)	General government gross debt (% of GDP)	134.5	(79.2)
Net FDI inflows (% of GDP)	4.1	(1.4)	General government total expenditure (% of GDP)	14.7	(45.2)
Net ODA per capita (current USD)	72.7	(2.6) (2021)	Total reserves (% of total external debt)	6.5	-

Note: Voice and Accountability captures perceptions of the extent to which a country's citizens are able to participate in selecting their government, as well as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and a free media. Estimate gives the country’s score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5. 2. Index ranges from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Figures refer to 2022. Latest year available when other than 2022 or explicitly mentioned in parenthesis. Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average or total OECD.

Source: Calculations based on data extracted from the databases of the following organisations: (OECD, 2023_[1]), Database, https://stats.oecd.org/; (Gallup Organisation, 2023_[2]), World Poll: 2006-2023, https://www.gallup.com/analytics/318875/global-research.aspx; (IEA, 2023_[3]), Database, https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools; (Transparency International, 2023_[4]), Corruption Perceptions Index, https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022; (World Bank, 2023_[5]), World Development Indicators, https://databank.worldbank.org/; (IMF, 2023_[6]), World Economic Outlook, https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO.