| Introduction - Czech Republic: |
| Location - Czech Republic: |
| People - Czech Republic: |
| Government - Czech Republic: |
| Economy - Czech Republic: |
Economy overview | The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-05 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as interest rates drop and the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. The current account deficit has declined to around 3% of GDP as demand for Czech products in the European Union has increased. Inflation is under control. Recent accession to the EU gives further impetus and direction to structural reform. In early 2004, the government passed increases in the Value Added Tax (VAT) and tightened eligibility for social benefits with the intention to bring the public finance gap down to 4% of GDP by 2006. However, due to significant increases in social spending in the run-up to June 2006 elections, the government is not likely to meet this goal. Negotiations on pension and healthcare reforms are continuing without clear prospects for agreement and implementation. Privatization of the state-owned telecommunications firm Cesky Telecom took place in 2005. Intensified restructuring among large enterprises, improvements in the financial sector, and effective use of available EU funds should strengthen output growth. |
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Gdp purchasing power parity | $224 billion (2006 est.) |
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Gdp official exchange rate | $118.8 billion (2006 est.) |
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Gdp real growth rate | 6.1% (2006 est.) |
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Gdp per capita ppp | $21,900 (2006 est.) |
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Gdp composition by sector | agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 37.8%
services: 59.4% (2006 est.) |
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Labor force | 5.31 million (2006 est.) |
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Labor force by occupation | agriculture: 4.1%
industry: 37.6%
services: 58.3% (2003) |
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Unemployment rate | 8.4% (2006 est.) |
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Population below poverty line | NA% |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 4.3%
highest 10%: 22.4% (1996) |
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Distribution of family income gini index | 27.3 (2003) |
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Inflation rate consumer prices | 2.7% (2006 est.) |
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Investment gross fixed | 26.2% of GDP (2006 est.) |
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Budget | revenues: $57.88 billion
expenditures: $62.53 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) |
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Public debt | 29.1% of GDP (2006 est.) |
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Agriculture products | wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry |
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Industries | metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments |
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Industrial production growth rate | 9.5% (2006 est.) |
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Electricity production | 79.14 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity consumption | 58.8 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity exports | 24.6 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity imports | 9.8 billion kWh (2004) |
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Oil production | 15,240 bbl/day (2005) |
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Oil consumption | 203,100 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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Oil exports | 20,930 bbl/day (2004) |
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Oil imports | 203,700 bbl/day (2004) |
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Oil proved reserves | 15 million bbl (1 January 2005) |
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Natural gas production | 216 million cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas consumption | 9.6 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas exports | 88 million cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas imports | 8.815 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas proved reserves | 3.964 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) |
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Current account balance | -$4.352 billion (2006 est.) |
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Exports | $89.34 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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Exports commodities | machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003) |
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Exports partners | Germany 31.9%, Slovakia 8.5%, Poland 5.7%, France 5.6%, Austria 5.1%, UK 4.8%, Italy 4.6% (2006) |
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Imports | $87.7 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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Imports commodities | machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003) |
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Imports partners | Germany 32%, Netherlands 6.5%, Slovakia 6.1%, Poland 6.1%, Russia 5.7%, Austria 4.9%, Italy 4.4%, France 4.4% (2006) |
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $30.99 billion (2006 est.) |
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Debt external | $50.2 billion (30 June 2006 est.) |
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Economic aid recipient | $2.4 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004-06) |
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Currency code | Czech koruna (CZK) |
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Exchange rates | koruny per US dollar - 22.596 (2006), 23.957 (2005), 25.7 (2004), 28.209 (2003), 32.739 (2002) |
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| Communications - Czech Republic: |
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| Military - Czech Republic: |
This page was last updated on 16 September, 2007
