Laos 
Facts
Population: 6,521,998 (July 2007 est.).
Age structure: 0-14 years: 41.2% (male 1,349,352/female 1,338,252)
15-64 years: 55.7% (male 1,795,029/female 1,835,168)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 90,188/female 114,009) (2007 est.).
Population growth rate: 2.37% (2007 est.).
Birth rate: 34.98 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Death rate: 11.28 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.008 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.978 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.791 male(s)/female
total population: 0.984 male(s)/female (2007 est.).
Infant mortality rate: total: 81.44 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 90.91 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 71.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 55.89 years
male: 53.82 years
female: 58.04 years (2007 est.).
Total fertility rate: 4.59 children born/woman (2007 est.).
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.).
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1,700 (2003 est.).
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 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 and the Yao 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1%.
Religions: Buddhist 65%, animist 32.9%, Christian 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.8% (1995 census).
Languages: Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages.
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 68.7%
male: 77%
female: 60.9% (2001 est.).
GDP (purchasing power parity): $13.63 billion (2006 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: 7.4% (2006 est.).
GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,100 (2006 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 43.4%
industry: 30.6%
services: 26% (2006 est.).
Labor force: 2.1 million (2006 est.).
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 80%
industry and services: 20% (2005 est.).
Population below poverty line: 30.7% (2005 est.).
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 30.6% (1997).
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.8% (2006 est.).
Unemployment rate: 2.4% (2005 est.).
Budget: revenues: $400 million
expenditures: $537.4 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.).
Agriculture - products: sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry.
Industries: copper, tin, and gypsum mining; timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism, cement.
Industrial production growth rate: 15.7% (2006 est.).
Electricity - production: 3.936 billion kWh (2004).
Electricity - consumption: 3.26 billion kWh (2004).
Electricity - exports: 600 million kWh (2004).
Electricity - imports: 200 million kWh (2004).
Exports: $982.2 million (2006 est.).
Exports - commodities: garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin.
Exports - partners: Thailand 29.4%, Vietnam 12.5%, France 6%, Germany 4.5% (2005).
Imports: $1.376 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods.
Imports - partners: Thailand 66.8%, China 9.1%, Vietnam 5.8% (2005).
Debt - external: $3.179 billion (2006).
Economic aid - recipient: $379 million (2006 est.).
Currency (code): kip (LAK).
Exchange rates: kips per US dollar - 10,235 (2006), 10,820 (2005), 10,585.5 (2004), 10,569 (2003), 10,056.3 (2002).
Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September.
Statistics: C.I.A. World Factbook. Updated: July 20, 2007.
Press
Xat Lao
(Pro-government), Vientiane
Laos in the News
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Displaying 5 to 6 of 6 items.
World Press Review - Though the script has not yet been written, a film currently in production in Thailand is threatening the country's relations with Laos
Thailand’s border troubles have dominated the local press as tensions with Laos grow. Most dramatically, a cross-border raid into southern Laos from Thailand brought fragile relations between the impoverished communist nation and its increasingly democratic, economically revived neighbor to the fore, though recent flare-ups also occurred over other incidents.
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