UNData app

General Information

Region		South-eastern Asia
Population (000, 2024)		7 770^a
Pop. density (per km2, 2024)		33.7^a
Capital city		Vientiane
Capital city pop. (000, 2024)		673.1^c
UN membership date		14 December 1955
Surface area (km2)		236 800^b
Sex ratio (m per 100 f)		101^a
National currency		Lao Kip (LAK)
Exchange rate (per US$)		19 162.0^d

Economic indicators

	2015	2020	2024
GDP: Gross domestic product (million current US$)	14 390	19 116	15 363^b
GDP growth rate (annual %, const. 2015 prices)	7.3	3.3	4.4^b
GDP per capita (current US$)	2 120.2	2 611.7	2 040.3^b
Economy: Agriculture^e,f (% of Gross Value Added)	19.7	18.4	22.3^b
Economy: Industry^e,g (% of Gross Value Added)	31	37.2	31.3^b
Economy: Services and other activity^e,h (% of GVA)	49.4	44.4	46.4^b
Employment in agricultureⁱ (% of employed)	63.9	66.4	69.6^b
Employment in industryⁱ (% of employed)	9.4	8.1	7.2^b
Employment in servicesⁱ (% employed)	26.7	25.6	23.3^b
Unemploymentⁱ (% of labour force)	2.5	3.9	3.8
Labour force participation rateⁱ (female/male pop. %)	56.3 / 64.0	55.3 / 62.5	55.9 / 63.2
CPI: Consumer Price Indexⁱ (2010=100)	126	143	239^d
Agricultural production index (2014-2016=100)	104	107	118^b
International trade: exports (million current US$)	2 985	5 087	9 619^i,d
International trade: imports (million current US$)	3 778	5 014	9 733^i,d
International trade: balance (million current US$)	-793	73	-114^i,d
Balance of payments, current account (million US$)	- 2 268	-231	-11^b

Social indicators

	2015	2020	2024
Population growth rate (average annual %)	1.6	1.5	1.3^a
Urban population (% of total population)	33.1	35.6^c	...
Urban population growth rate (average annual %)	3.2^j	...	...
Fertility rate, total (live births per woman)	2.8	2.5	2.4^a
Life expectancy at birth (females/males, years)	68.9 / 64.6	71.0 / 65.9	71.5 / 67.0^a
Population age distribution^k (0-14/60+ years old, %)	33.2 / 6.3	31.6 / 6.8	30.2 / 7.5^a
International migrant stock (000/% of total pop.)	45.5 / 0.7^l,m	48.7 / 0.7^l,m	... / ...
Refugees and others of concern to UNHCR (000)	...	~0.0	0^d
Under five mortality rate (per 1000 live births)	53.3	43.5	37.2^a
Health: Current expenditureⁿ (% of GDP)	2.5	2.1	2.7^o
Health: Physicians (per 1 000 pop.)	0.4	0.4	0.3^o
Education: Government expenditure (% of GDP)	2.7	1.9	1.9^o
Education: Primary gross enrol. ratio (f/m per 100 pop.)	111.6 / 116.7	99.5 / 102.8	96.2 / 98.2^b
Education: Lowr. sec. gross enrol. ratio (f/m per 100 pop.)	73.3 / 78.1	71.2 / 73.3	66.6 / 66.9^b
Education: Upr. Sec. gross enrol. ratio (f/m per 100 pop.)	42.4 / 46.8	46.2 / 51.3	41.5 / 45.3^b
Seats held by women in national parliaments (%)	25	27.5^p	22^p

Environment and infrastructure indicators

	2015	2020	2024
Individuals using the Internet (per 100 inhabitants)	18.2ⁱ	54	66.2^i,b
Threatened species (number)	210	250	323^d
Forested area (% of land area)	72.7	71.9	71.8^o
CO2 emission estimates (million tons/tons per capita)	8.3 / 1.2	17.7 / 2.4	17.9 / 2.4^o
Energy production, primary (Petajoules)	162	297	317^o
Energy supply per capita (Gigajoules)	25	33ⁱ	33^i,o
Tourist/visitor arrivals at national borders (000)	3 543	812	...
Important sites for terrestrial biodiversity protected (%)	28.4	39.7	48.7^d
Pop. using safely managed drinking water (urban/rural, %)	25.8 / 11.0	27.0 / 12.4	27.0 / 12.4^b
Pop. using safely managed sanitation (urban/rural, %)	60.4 / 50.7	63.3 / 59.8	63.3 / 59.8^b
Net Official Development Assist. received (% of GNI)	3.42	2.97	3.25^o

Footnotes

a		Projected estimate (medium fertility variant).
b		2022
c		2019
d		2023
e		Data classified according to ISIC Rev. 4.
f		Excludes irrigation canals and landscaping care.
g		Excludes publishing activities. Includes irrigation canals.
h		Includes publishing activities and landscape care. Excludes repair of personal and household goods.
i		Estimate.
j		Data refers to a 5-year period preceding the reference year.
k		Calculated by the UN Statistics Division.
l		Refers to foreign citizens.
m		Including refugees.
n		Data refer to fiscal years beginning 1 October.
o		2021
p		Data are as at 1 January of reporting year.