Economy of Belarus

GDP, Br million (2011-2015 - with account of redenomination of 2016).

Foreign trade in goods and services, USD billion.

Industrial output, Br million (2011-2015 - with account of redenomination of 2016).

Agricultural output, Br million (2011-2015 - with account of redenomination of 2016)

Improving the quality of life through economic competitiveness, investment and innovative development is the country’s main goal enshrined in the five-year program for 2016-2020.

To achieve this goal, Belarus has outlined the priorities in the context of current global trends. The country has concentrated all internal and external resources and engaged the entire vertical of power in the effort to meet these priorities.

These priorities include investment as a source of technological upgrade of major industries and development of new innovative sectors of the economy; new high-productive jobs as a means to harness labor potential and ensure social stability; export as the major area of focus to ensure balanced economic development.

Major drivers of competitiveness are innovative development, financial improvement of the real economy, reduction of all kinds of costs, increasing the contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises. All this is also directly related to the priorities of the current five-year period, namely “informatization” and “youth”.

In 2019, the Republic of Belarus improved its positions in a number of international rankings, which are important indicators of the country's development in certain areas for foreign investors and creditors.

Belarus has made great progress in sustainable development which is evidenced by the country’s high positions on the SDG Index and Dashboards Report prepared by Bertelsmann Stiftung International Foundation and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Belarus ranked 18^rd (78.76 points out of 100) and received an above-average rating for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (the ranking covered 193 countries and used about 100 indicators to measure the progress towards the SDGs).

On the Human Development Index, which is a well-recognized tool for comparing the living standards in different countries, Belarus ranks 50^th out of 189 countries and is in top tier of countries with the very high level of human development, according to the UN classification.

Belarus goes 73^rd (out of 167 countries) in the Legatum Prosperity Index 2019. Belarus ranks 32^nd on education and 45^th on living conditions. The country's position on economic quality improved from 56^th to 54^th place during the year.

As a result of targeted measures to facilitate property relations and improve the business climate, Belarus has placed high in the relevant international ranking. Belarus placed 49^th out of 190 nations in the Doing Business 2020.

Belarusian State University is in the top 25 on the QS University Rankings 2020 for Emerging Europe and Central Asia. The study ranks more than 2,500 universities based on six indicators: research, quality of teaching, employers’ opinion and career potential, the number of international students and teachers.

Belarus was ranked 38^th out of 193 nations on the United Nations E-Government Survey 2018, which was 11 positions higher than in 2016. Belarus debuted in the top 40 - a group of countries with a very high index of e-government development.

On the E-Participation index, which assesses the engagement and collaboration between governments and citizens, Belarus rose to 33^rd place from 76^th in 2016.

Belarus goes 32^nd out of 176 countries on the ICT Development Index (by the International Telecommunication Union). The country is 34^th on the ICT access sub-index (51^st in 2010) and 40^th on the ICT use sub-index (57^th in 2010). Belarus ranks in the top ten on the skills sub-index (5^th place) behind only Australia, the Republic of Korea, the United States, and Greece.