!!!Uruguay: Economy
Uruguay has a free market economy characterized by an export-oriented agricultural sector, a well-educated workforce, and high levels of social spending. Uruguay has sought to expand trade within the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) and with non-Mercosur members, and President VAZQUEZ has maintained his predecessor’s mix of pro-market policies and a strong social safety net. \\  \\ Following financial difficulties in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Uruguay's economic growth averaged 8% annually during the period 2004-08. The 2008-09 global financial crisis put a brake on Uruguay's vigorous growth, which decelerated to 2.6% in 2009. Nevertheless, the country managed to avoid a recession and keep positive growth rates, mainly through higher public expenditure and investment; GDP growth reached 8.9% in 2010 but slowed in 2012-13 as a result of a renewed slowdown in the global economy and in Uruguay's main trade partners and Mercosur counterparts, Argentina and Brazil.
!!Economic Facts
||GDP (purchasing power parity)|$73.93 billion (2016 est.) \\ $73.86 billion (2015 est.) \\ $73.14 billion (2014 est.) \\ ''__note__'': data are in 2016 dollars \\ 
||GDP (official exchange rate)|$54.37 billion (2015 est.)
||GDP - real growth rate|0.1% (2016 est.) \\ 1% (2015 est.) \\ 3.2% (2014 est.)
||GDP - per capita (PPP)|$21,600 (2016 est.) \\ $21,600 (2015 est.) \\ $21,500 (2014 est.) \\ ''__note__'': data are in 2016 dollars \\ 
||Gross national saving|17.1% of GDP (2016 est.) \\ 16.3% of GDP (2015 est.) \\ 16.7% of GDP (2014 est.)
||GDP - composition, by end use|''household consumption'': 67.2% \\ ''government consumption'': 14.2% \\ ''investment in fixed capital'': 19.3% \\ ''investment in inventories'': -0.2% \\ ''exports of goods and services'': 22% \\ ''imports of goods and services'': -22.5% (2016 est.) \\ 
||GDP - composition, by sector of origin|''agriculture'': 6.3% \\ ''industry'': 26.1% \\ ''services'': 67.6% (2016 est.) \\ 
||Agriculture - products|soybeans, rice, wheat; beef, dairy products; fish; lumber, cellulose
||Industries|food processing, electrical machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, textiles, chemicals, beverages
||Industrial production growth rate|3.5% (2016 est.)
||Labor force|1.736 million (2016 est.)
||Labor force - by occupation|''agriculture'': 13% \\ ''industry'': 14% \\ ''services'': 73% (2010 est.) \\ 
||Unemployment rate|7.6% (2016 est.) \\ 7.5% (2015 est.)
||Population below poverty line|18.6% (2010 est.)
||Household income or consumption by percentage share|''lowest 10%'': 1.9% \\ ''highest 10%'': 34.4% (2010 est.) \\ 
||Distribution of family income - Gini index|45.3 (2010) \\ 44.8 (1999)
||Budget|''revenues'': $14.29 billion \\ ''expenditures'': $15.9 billion (2016 est.) \\ 
||Taxes and other revenues|26.3% of GDP (2016 est.)
||Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)|-3% of GDP (2016 est.)
||Public debt|62.8% of GDP (2016 est.) \\ 66.3% of GDP (2015 est.) \\ ''__note__'': data cover general government debt, and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as in \\ 
||Fiscal year|calendar year
||Inflation rate (consumer prices)|10.2% (2016 est.) \\ 8.7% (2015 est.)
||Central bank discount rate|9% (31 December 2012) \\ 8.75% (31 December 2011) \\ ''__note__'': Uruguay's central bank uses the benchmark interest rate, rather than the discount rate, to conduct monetary policy; the rates shown here are the benchmark rates \\ 
||Commercial bank prime lending rate|15.5% (31 December 2016 est.) \\ 15.84% (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of narrow money|$4.121 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $4.022 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of broad money|$8.568 billion (31 December 2014 est.) \\ $8.919 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
||Stock of domestic credit|$17.87 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $17.2 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Market value of publicly traded shares|$175.4 million (31 December 2012 est.) \\ $174.6 million (31 December 2011 est.) \\ $156.9 million (31 December 2010 est.)
||Current account balance|-$1.586 billion (2016 est.) \\ -$1.864 billion (2015 est.)
||Exports|$9.042 billion (2016 est.) \\ $9.067 billion (2015 est.)
||Exports - commodities|beef, soybeans, cellulose, rice, wheat, wood, dairy products; wool
||Exports - partners|China 15%, Brazil 14.4%, US 6.5%, Argentina 4.9% (2015)
||Imports|$9.075 billion (2016 est.) \\ $9.345 billion (2015 est.)
||Imports - commodities|refined oil, crude oil, passenger and other transportation vehicles, vehicle parts, cellular phones
||Imports - partners|Brazil 18.2%, China 17.4%, Argentina 12.6%, US 9.1%, Germany 4.5%, Nigeria 4.1% (2015)
||Reserves of foreign exchange and gold|$14.85 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $15.63 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Debt - external|$21.3 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $20.07 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of direct foreign investment - at home|$23.3 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $21.65 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad|$272.1 million (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $153.5 million (31 December 2015 est.)
||Exchange rates|Uruguayan pesos (UYU) per US dollar - \\ 32.03 (2016 est.) \\ 27.52 (2015 est.) \\ 27.52 (2014 est.) \\ 23.246 (2013 est.) \\ 20.31 (2012 est.)