Economic and Social Development of Belarus in 2007

In 2007 in Belarus there was a positive dynamics regarding practically all basic indicators of economic and social development, which confirms the effectiveness of the development model chosen by the government.

In comparison with 2006:

– gross domestic product increased by 8.2 per cent;

– industrial production output increased by 8.5 per cent;

– agricultural production output increased by 4.1 per cent;

– consumer goods production increased by 8.2 per cent;

– residential construction increased by 14.1 per cent;

– capital investments increased by 15.1 per cent. According to the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2007 Belarus belongs to the group of countries with high potential for foreign direct investments with 47^th inward FDI potential index;

– foreign trade increased by 25.9 per cent and export – by 24.5 per cent;

– international trade in services increased by 34.4 per cent;

– real income of population increased by 15 per cent;

– unemployment rate is 1 per cent of economically active population.

The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2008 Report takes note that Belarus traditionally has good unemployment indicators that are much lower than similar indicators in the Russian Federation (6.1 per cent), Ukraine (7 per cent) and EU countries (average level of unemployment is 5.4 per cent, the highest level is in Slovakia – 11.4 per cent).

According to this report, Consumer Price Index in Belarus, even taking into account the tendency of its increase as a result of higher prices for energy resources, was in 2007 lower than the average index in the Commonwealth of Independent States, better than the indexes of oil exporting countries (Azerbaijan, Russia and Uzbekistan) and equal to the index in Kazakhstan.

According to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2008 Report Belarus occupies the fifth position in the world in the reduction of greenhouse gases emission (after Baltic countries and Ukraine).

UNCTAD Developing Countries in International Trade 2007 Report places Belarus at the 57^th position in the world and includes it in the group of the most dynamically developing countries in the CIS. Among the strongest features of Belarus UNCTAD experts specifically highlighted high rates of economic and social welfare of the population and the growth of foreign trade. By these indicators, Belarus reserves 34^th place in the world and is way ahead of all CIS countries.

According to the UNDP 2007 Human Development Report, Belarus has improved its human development indicators and for the first time became a country with a high human development index. Compared with 2006, Belarus switched from the 67th to 64th position – the best result among all CIS countries. Russia reserves 67^th place in the list, while Kazakhstan – 73^rd place and Ukraine – 76^th place.

According to the Word Bank, Belarus has larger spending on sustaining living standards of the population than any other country of the former Soviet Union – US$ 3,900 per capita. The average public spending per capita worldwide is US$ 4,870, in Russia – US$ 2,460.

The UNICEF State of the World's Children 2008 Report reveals that Belarus has better indicators of children's well-being than in a number of developed and CIS countries in terms of:

– number of infants with low birth weight (2,500 grams at birth), compared to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Italy, Latvia;

– annual number of under-fives deaths, compared to Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, France;

– one-year-old children immunization (TB, DPT, Polio, Measles, HepB, Hib), compared to Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Greece, Portugal;

– adult HIV prevalence rate (aged 15-49), compared to Estonia, Italy, France, Latvia, USA. The number of women (aged 15+) living with HIV in Belarus is lower than in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, UK, US;

– secondary school attendance ratio, compared to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Besides, according to the report, there are 35 Internet users per 100 population in Belarus. This figure is higher than in several countries of Eastern Europe (Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, and Poland) as well as in Russia and Ukraine. As for the number of phones (76 per 100 population) Belarus is taking the lead in the CIS region, being in the third place after Russia and Ukraine.

At the fifty-seventh session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in the European region Belarus was highlighted as a country which has great accomplishments related to MDG6 (curbing HIV/AIDS and other diseases) and MDG4 (child mortality).

The 30^th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent held in November 2007 in Geneva identified Belarus as one of the leading countries in the process of implementation of the provisions of international humanitarian law.