Bhutan’s economy is gradually bouncing back to the pre-COVID levels. According to the National Statistics Bureau’s (NSB) National Accounts Statistics (NAS) released last week, the country’s Gross Domestic Product or the GDP ticked up to 4.09 per cent last year.
In 2019, a year before the pandemic struck the country, the GDP growth rate stood at 5.75 per cent.
The GDP is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period.
Last year, Bhutan’s GDP jumped to more than Nu 187bn from more than Nu 172bn in 2020.
This is an increase of Nu 15bn, which is more than a 14 per cent rise compared to 2020. That year, Bhutan recorded its GDP growth rate at – 10.01 per cent, which was the all-time lowest in recent history.
Mining and Quarrying, Transport and Communication, Construction, and Wholesale and Retail Trade were key sectors that contributed to the GDP growth last year.
After sliding to its record low in 2020, the mining and quarrying sector recorded a growth of more than 28 per cent last year. The mines and minerals like Dolomite, Limestone, Coal mines, and Gypsum among others were the main contributors to the growth of the sector.
Likewise, the transport, storage and communication sector saw a growth of over 16 per cent last year, with the telecommunication subsector being its main contributor.
The construction sector also started to pick up last year after it remained stagnant for the past three consecutive years. The sector includes both government and private construction projects.
However, the electricity and water supply sector witnessed a drop in 2021. This is mainly due to a decrease in the electricity generation from the hydropower plants.
Other sectors such as finance and insurance, and education and health also recorded zero growth.
According to the NAS, the weak performance of the banks affected the growth of the finance and insurance sector.
Meanwhile, the GDP per capita for 2021 was estimated at almost Nu 250,000, an increase of more than Nu 18,000 from the previous year.
The GDP per capita measures the prosperity of a nation by economic growth per person of a nation. Per capita income measures the amount of money earned per person in a nation.
Samten Dolkar
Edited by Pema Lhaden
