Editing Belarus (section)

==Economy==

{{Main|Economy of Belarus}}[[File:GDP per capita development of Belarus.svg|thumb|Change in per capita GDP of Belarus, 1973–2018.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} Figures are inflation-adjusted to 2011 International dollars.]] [[File:Belarus regions by Gross Regional Product GRP 2022.png|thumb|Belarus regions by Gross Regional Product (GRP)]]
Belarus is [[Developing country|a developing country]], but at 60th place in the United Nations' [[Human Development Index]], it has a "very high" human development.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nations |first=United |title=Country Insights |url=https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights |language=en}}</ref> In 2019, the share of manufacturing in GDP was 31%, and over two-thirds of this amount fell on manufacturing industries.{{Clarify|reason=2/3 of manufacturing falls on manufacturing industries? What does that mean?|date=December 2023}} Manufacturing employed 34.7% of the workforce.<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Neill |first1=Aaron |title=Belarus GDP Distribution Across Economic Sectors |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/446138/belarus-gdp-distribution-across-economic-sectors/ |access-date=6 April 2021 |website=Statista}}</ref>  Manufacturing growth is much smaller than for the economy as a whole—about 2.2% in 2021. Important agricultural products include potatoes and cattle byproducts, including meat.<ref name="ciaecon"/>

===Trade===
Belarus has trade relations with over 180 countries. As of 2007, its main trading partners were Russia, which accounted for about 45% of Belarusian exports and 55% of imports (which include petroleum),<ref>{{cite news |date=25 October 2006 |title=Russia may cut oil supplies to ally Belarus&nbsp;– Putin |work=Reuters |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/energy-russia-belarus-idUKL2556634020061025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305153646/http://uk.reuters.com/article/energy-russia-belarus-idUKL2556634020061025 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=8 October 2007}}</ref> and the EU countries, with 25% of exports and 20% of imports.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Bykau, A. |title=Modeling Economic Growth in Contemporary Belarus (Entrepreneurship and Global Economic Growth) |author2=Vysotski, S. |publisher=Emerald Publishing Limited |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-83867-696-4 |editor=Sergi, B.S. |pages=235–248 |chapter=What Belarus Produces, Exports, and Imports: Analyzing Trade in Value Added |doi=10.1108/978-1-83867-695-720191016 |s2cid=211781907}}</ref><ref name="natotrade">{{cite web |author=Kaare Dahl Martinsen |year=2002 |title=The Russian-Belarusian Union and the Near Abroad |url=http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/99-01/martinsen.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127003300/http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/99-01/martinsen.pdf |archive-date=27 November 2007 |access-date=7 November 2007 |work=Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies |publisher=NATO}}</ref>{{update inline|date=December 2023}}

In April 2022, as a result of its facilitation of the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the EU imposed trade sanctions on Belarus.<ref>{{cite press release |title=EU sanctions in response to the involvement of Belarus in the Russian military aggression against Ukraine |date=8 April 2022 |url=https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/news/eu-sanctions-response-involvement-belarus-russian-military-aggression-against-ukraine |publisher=[[European Commission]]}}</ref> The sanctions were extended and expanded in August 2023.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Belarus: EU adopts new round of individual sanctions over continued human rights abuses and imposes further targeted measures in response to involvement in Russia's military aggression against Ukraine |url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/08/03/belarus-eu-adopts-new-round-of-individual-sanctions-over-continued-human-rights-abuses-and-imposes-further-targeted-measures-in-response-to-involvement-in-russia-s-military-aggression-against-ukraine/ |date=3 August 2023 |publisher=[[Council of the European Union]]}}</ref> These sanctions are in addition to those imposed following the rigged 2020 "election" of Lukashenko.<ref>{{cite web |title=EU restrictive measures against Belarus |url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/sanctions/restrictive-measures-against-belarus/ |publisher=[[European Council]], [[Council of the European Union]]}}</ref>

At the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus was one of the world's most industrially developed states by proportion of GDP and the richest CIS member-state.<ref name="wb97">[[World Bank]]. "Belarus: Prices, Markets, and Enterprise Reform", [https://books.google.com/books?id=0jCvjCHPHpcC&pg=PA83 p. 1]. World Bank, 1997; {{ISBN|0-8213-3976-1}}</ref> In 2015, 39.3% of Belarusians were employed by state-controlled companies, 57.2% by private companies (in which the government has a 21.1% stake) and 3.5% by foreign companies.<ref name="econstats">{{Cite web |title=Belarus in Figures, 2016 |url=https://www.belstat.gov.by/en/ofitsialnaya-statistika/publications/statistical-publications-data-books-bulletins/public_compilation/index_4921/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221122356/https://www.belstat.gov.by/en/ofitsialnaya-statistika/publications/statistical-publications-data-books-bulletins/public_compilation/index_4921/ |archive-date=21 February 2021 |access-date=16 May 2021 |website=www.belstat.gov.by}}</ref> In 1994, Belarus's main exports included heavy machinery (especially [[Belarus (tractor)|tractors]]), agricultural products, and energy products.<ref name="byexports">{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/belarus/36.htm|title=Belarus&nbsp;– Exports|access-date=4 November 2007|year=1994|author=Library of Congress|work=Country Studies}}</ref> Economically, Belarus involved itself in the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS), [[Eurasian Economic Community]], and [[Union State|Union with Russia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Belarus and CIS countries and Georgia |url=https://mfa.gov.by/en/bilateral/cis/ |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus |access-date=6 April 2021}}</ref> In the 1990s, industrial production plunged due to decreases in imports, investment, and demand for Belarusian products from its trading partners.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/belarus/30.htm|title=Belarus&nbsp;– Industry|access-date=8 October 2007|year=1995|work=Country Studies|publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref> GDP only began to rise in 1996;<ref name="bybriefwb06">{{cite web|url=http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/eca/eca.nsf/2656afe00bc5f02185256d5d005dae97/8ec2dc1ef03aed3e85256d5d0067dc90?OpenDocument|title=Belarus&nbsp;– Country Brief 2003|access-date=9 November 2007|year=2006|author=World Bank|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210182026/http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ECA/eca.nsf/2656afe00bc5f02185256d5d005dae97/8ec2dc1ef03aed3e85256d5d0067dc90?OpenDocument|archive-date=10 December 2007}}</ref> the country was the fastest-recovering former Soviet republic in the terms of its economy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bDx0Ak4xnOQC&q=Belarus+GDP+1996&pg=PA328|title=Transition: The First Decade|first1=Mario I.|last1=Bléjer|first2=Director of the Centre for Central Banking Studies Mario I.|last2=Blejer|first3=Marko|last3=Skreb|date=9 May 2001|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-02505-8|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 2006, GDP amounted to US$83.1 billion in [[purchasing power parity]] (PPP) dollars (estimate), or about $8,100 per capita.<ref name="ciaecon">{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Belarus|section=Economy|access-date=8 October 2007|year=2007}}</ref> In 2005, GDP increased by 9.9%; the inflation rate averaged 9.5%.<ref name="ciaecon" /> Belarus was ranked 85th in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=www.wipo.int |language=en}}</ref>

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, under Lukashenko's leadership, Belarus has maintained government control of key industries and eschewed the large-scale privatizations seen in other former Soviet republics.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sharon |first1=Omondi |title=What Are The Biggest Industries In Belarus? |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-biggest-industries-in-belarus.html |website=World Atlas |date=14 June 2019 |access-date=6 April 2021}}</ref>

Belarus applied to become a member of the [[World Trade Organization]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite web |title=Accessions – Belarus |url=http://www.wto.org/English/thewto_e/acc_e/a1_belarus_e.htm |access-date=29 April 2013 |publisher=Wto.org}}</ref> Due to its failure to protect labor rights, including passing laws forbidding unemployment or working outside state-controlled sectors,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/no-job-pay-up-belarus-imposes-fines-for-being-unemployed/518581.html|title=No Job? Pay Up. Belarus Imposes Fines for Being Unemployed – News|work=The Moscow Times|date=3 April 2015 }}</ref> Belarus lost its EU [[Generalized System of Preferences]] status on 21 June 2007, which raised tariff rates to their prior [[most favored nation]] levels.<ref name="eutrade">{{Cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/belarus/pdf/belarus_trade_en.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325112636/http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/belarus/pdf/belarus_trade_en.pdf|title=The EU's Relationship With Belarus&nbsp;– Trade|archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref>

===Employment===
The labor force consists of more than 4 million people, of whom women are slightly more than men.<ref name="econstats" /> In 2005, nearly a quarter of the population was employed in industrial factories. Employment is also high in agriculture, manufacturing sales, trading goods, and education. The unemployment rate was 1.5% in 2005, according to government statistics. There were 679,000 unemployed Belarusians, of whom two-thirds were women. The unemployment rate has been declining since 2003, and the overall rate of employment is the highest since statistics were first compiled in 1995.<ref name="econstats" />

===Currency===
[[File:Belarus - Annual GDP and CPI rates 2001-2013.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Belarusian annual [[GDP]] and [[CPI]] rates 2001–2013{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}]]
The currency of Belarus is the [[Belarusian ruble]]. The currency was introduced in May 1992 to replace the [[Soviet ruble]] and it has undergone [[redenomination]] twice since then. The first coins of the Republic of Belarus were issued on 27 December 1996.<ref>{{cite web|title=Banknotes and Coins of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus|url=http://www.nbrb.by/engl/CoinsBanknotes/|publisher=National Bank of the Republic of Belarus|access-date=20 July 2010|archive-date=27 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627160916/http://nbrb.by/engl/CoinsBanknotes/}}</ref> The ruble was reintroduced with new values in 2000 and has been in use ever since.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbrb.by/engl/CoinsBanknotes|title=History of the Belarusian ruble|publisher=National Bank of the Republic of Belarus|access-date=29 April 2013}}</ref> In 2007, The [[National Bank of the Republic of Belarus|National Bank of Belarus]] abandoned pegging the Belarusian ruble to the Russian ruble.<ref>{{cite web |date=23 August 2007 |title=Belarus abandons pegging its currency to Russian ruble |url=http://english.pravda.ru/world/ussr/23-08-2007/96292-belarus_russia-0 |access-date=29 April 2013 |publisher=English.pravda.ru}}</ref> As part of the [[Union State|Union of Russia and Belarus]], the two states have discussed using a single currency analogous to the Euro. This led to a proposal that the Belarusian ruble be discontinued in favor of the [[Russian ruble]] (RUB), starting as early as 1 January 2008.

On 23 May 2011, the ruble depreciated 56% against the United States dollar. The depreciation was even steeper on the black market and financial collapse seemed imminent as citizens rushed to exchange their rubles for dollars, euros, durable goods, and canned goods.<ref>{{cite news|author=Yuras Karmanau |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2015143616_apeubelaruscrisis.html|title=Belarus devaluation spreads panic|newspaper=Seattle Times|date=25 May 2011|access-date=27 May 2011}}</ref> On 1 June 2011, Belarus requested an economic rescue package from the [[International Monetary Fund]].<ref>[http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/GB/20110601/CP01/306019917/-1/sag08/with-economy-in-tatters-belarus-appeals-to-imf-for-rescue-loan-of-up&template=cpArt With economy in tatters, Belarus appeals to IMF for rescue loan of up to $8&nbsp;billion] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114172921/http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/GB/20110601/CP01/306019917/-1/sag08/with-economy-in-tatters-belarus-appeals-to-imf-for-rescue-loan-of-up%26template%3DcpArt |date=14 January 2014 }}, Associated Press, 1 June 2011; retrieved 2 June 2011</ref><ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/belarus-appeals-imf-8bln-rescue-loan-161455781.html Belarus Appeals To IMF For $8bln Rescue Loan.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307072633/http://news.yahoo.com/belarus-appeals-imf-8bln-rescue-loan-161455781.html |date=7 March 2016 }} Associated Press, 1 June 2011; retrieved 2 June 2011</ref> A new currency, the new Belarusian ruble ([[ISO 4217]] code: BYN)<ref name="currency-iso.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.currency-iso.org/dam/downloads/dl_currency_iso_amendment_161.docx |format=DOC |title=ISO 4217 Amendment Number 161 |website=Currency-iso.org |access-date=31 March 2016}}</ref> was introduced in July 2016, replacing the [[Belarusian ruble]] in a rate of 1:10,000 (10,000 old ruble = 1 new ruble). From 1 July until 31 December 2016, the old and new currencies were in parallel circulation, and series 2000 notes and coins could be exchanged for series 2009 from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021.<ref name="currency-iso.org"/> This [[redenomination]] can be considered an effort to fight the high inflation rate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrik.gov.by/ru/republic-ru/view/mezhdunarodnoe-oboznachenie-belorusskogo-rublja-menjaetsja-na-byn-posle-denominatsii-7686/|title=Международное обозначение белорусского рубля меняется на BYN после деноминации – Новости республики – Минский район-Минск-Новости Минска-Новости Минского района-Минский райисполком|access-date=18 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325023542/http://www.mrik.gov.by/ru/republic-ru/view/mezhdunarodnoe-oboznachenie-belorusskogo-rublja-menjaetsja-na-byn-posle-denominatsii-7686/|archive-date=25 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://president.gov.by/ru/news_ru/view/kommentarij-k-ukazu-450-ot-4-nojabrja-2015-g-12489/|title=Новости – Официальный интернет-портал Президента Республики Беларусь}}</ref> On 6 October 2022, Lukashenko banned price increases, to combat food inflation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Belarusian Strongman Lukashenka Bans Price Hikes To Curb Inflation |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-inflation-lukashenka-bans-price-increases/32068574.html |newspaper=Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty}}</ref> In January 2023, Belarus legalized [[copyright infringement]] of [[Digital media|media]] and [[intellectual property]] created by "unfriendly" foreign nations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ntim |first1=Zac |title=Belarus Legalizes Piracy Of Audiovisual Material And Computer Software From "Unfriendly" Nations |url=https://deadline.com/2023/01/belarus-legalizes-piracy-of-content-from-unfriendly-nations-1235215833/ |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=10 January 2023}}</ref>

The banking system of Belarus consists of two levels: the Central Bank (National Bank of the Republic of Belarus) and 25 commercial banks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=Belarus|title=Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom&nbsp;– Belarus|access-date=18 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223175533/http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=Belarus|archive-date=23 February 2007|url-status=unfit}}</ref>

===Free economic zones===
Belarus has established six [[free economic zone]]s to encourage investment and development. The zones are:<ref>{{cite web | title=Free Economic Zones (FEZ) |website= Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus | url=https://economy.gov.by/en/cez-en/ | access-date=January 28, 2025}}</ref>
*FEZ Brest (1996)
*FEZ Gomel-Raton (1998)
*FEZ Grodnoinvest (2002)
*FEZ Minsk (1998)
*FEZ Mogilev (2002)
*FEZ Vitebsk (1999)