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Socioeconomic Development of the
Republic of Belarus in the First Half of 2007
The first half of 2007 saw Belarusian
economy continuing to perform rather well.
On the first half of the last year,
- Belarus’
Gross Domestic Product
grew 8.6 %. This rate keeps Belarus in the lead among the closest neighbours.
The reference guide of the Eastern Committee on German Economy (Central
and Eastern Europe, Yearbook 2007) indicates that in terms of GDP per
capita Belarus (5,852 Euros) comes out ahead of most CIS countries and
several new EU members, in particular, Bulgaria (3,270 Euros) and Romania
(4,500 Euros);
- The
Industrial Output grew
7.7 %. The chemical and petrochemical industries showed a growth of 118 %,
engineering and metal working – 112.6 %, building materials output –
114.9 %;
- The
production of Consumer Commodities grew 5.8 %, of them
non-food-related commodities - 11.9 %;
- The
inflow of investments into the capital assets reached 120 %. The
housing construction in January-May accounted for 19.9 % of the total
investments. The CIS Inter-State Statistics Committee indicated in
the report “On Socioeconomic Development and Trade and Economic Relations
between the CIS Member States in the first quarter of 2007” that the
Belarusian budget earmarked the largest volume of investment (21.4 %) for
the capital assets among the CIS member states;
- The
residential spaces commissioned through all sources of funding reached
2.363 thousand square metres and grew 14.3 %;
- The
Output of Agricultural Produce grew 5.2 %;
- In
January-May the real revenues of the population grew 117.2 %. In
terms of the middle-level and minimum salary, Belarus keeps the
leading position among the CIS countries and in terms of pensioning
comes ahead of all of them;
- In
January-May the inflation rate in the consumer market was 3.2 % which
brought Belarus into the lead among the CIS countries;
- The
depreciation of the Belarusian rouble against the US dollar was 0.2 %
which demonstrates stability of the national currency;
- The
foreign trade in goods rose 18.5 % in January-May; the exports
of Belarusian goods grew 15 %;
- The
Unemployment Rate (as of late June 2007) was 1 % of the economically
active population. The European Commission’s special paper “European
Economy” (June 2007) indicates that Belarus has shown one of the
lowest unemployment rates in Europe along with growing salaries. The
report concludes that this reflects stable economic growth and
general socially oriented policies of governance.
In keeping with the rating set out by the
UN Development Programme (UNDP), Belarus ranks
- 67th among the countries with
the most favourable living conditions for people and comes out ahead
of many CIS countries in terms of quality of life;
- a leader among the CIS countries in such
areas as education and health care, remaining in advance of many
developed countries as far as a number of indicators are concerned.
The UNCTAD World Investment Report 2006
places the
Republic of Belarus among the countries with the high inward FDI
potential, which is not fully realized, however. The matrix of
investment potential involving 12 indices brought Belarus upwards from
the 65th standing in 2000 to the 50th standing in 2006
among 141 countries. The first quarter of 2007 saw over $ 1.2 billion worth
of foreign investments brought into the Belarusian economy.
Pursuant to the UN Population Fund’s
“State of World Population 2007” report, Belarus
- has
the best indicator of infant mortality among the CIS countries, total
of 14 per 1,000 live births. Ukraine – 15, Russia – 16, Moldova – 23,
Armenia – 29, Georgia – 39;
- is
the only country in the CIS where 100 % of births are attended by skilled
health staff. For the developed countries the rate is 99 %;
- is
in the lead in terms of access to improved drinking water sources
(100 % of population);
- has
one of the lowest illiteracy rates in the world – 0/1 (men/women, per
cent, population older than 15 years). The world rate is 13/23.
- shares
the first place with Russia among the CIS countries in terms of urban
population – 73 %.
The World Health Organisation
places Belarus in the fifth position in the world in terms of the number
of doctors per 1,000 people, which brings our country ahead of all
countries of Western Europe and the US.
According to the 8th annual
ranking of countries favourable for maternity that was issued by the
Save the Children independent US charity, Belarus has become part of the
first group of more developed countries, and ranks 30th in
The Mothers’ Index. Belarus has the 29th standing in
The Women’s Index and the 32nd standing in The Children’s Index.
The 2007 ranking places Belarus ahead of all CIS countries and the EU member
states Malta, Poland, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Romania, and Cyprus.
According to the Social Watch
non-governmental organisation’s report about the socioeconomic development
in the world in 2006, Belarus
- has
the best standing among the CIS countries in terms of public health
expenditure;
- comes
out ahead of Austria, UK, Germany, Canada, US, France, most CIS countries in
terms of public education expenditure;
- comes
out ahead of Austria, Australia, Belgium, UK, Canada, Italy, US, Finland,
France in terms of DPT-, Tetanus-, Polio-, Measles-Immunized children.
The Freedom House Human Rights
Watchdog’s report “Nations in Transit” that has studied democracies in 29
Eurasian countries indicates that the state of democracy in Belarus
has improved for the first time in the decade.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s
report appreciates the efforts of the Belarusian law-enforcement agencies in
preventing illegal drug trafficking of heroin, above all. The
consumption of heroin (less than 0.3 % of population) and cocaine (less than
0.1 % of population) in Belarus is one of the lowest among the CIS
countries.
In 2007, the Financial Action Task Force removed the
Republic of Belarus from the Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories List
created to combat international money laundering. |
