Belarus is in the process of transition from planned economy to market economy. Belarus has a resource-dependent economy with the industrial sector dominating in GDP (28.1% in 2007).

 

The key industry sectors are metal-working, machine building, production of construction materials, forestry, production and processing of timber, pulp/paper, chemical/petrochemical, ferrous metallurgy. Trade and catering comprise 10.6% of GDP, transport and communications 8%, construction 9.4%, agriculture 8.4%.

 

In 2008, GDP amounted to approx. EUR 35.8 billion (10% annual growth). The inflation rate in 2008 amounted to 13.3%. In 2008 foreign investment flow grew by 20.4%, and foreign direct investment flow grew by 70%. In 2008 the most significant investing countries were Russian Federation (33.2% of the total inflow of foreign investments), Switzerland (18.8%), the United Kingdom (10.9%) and Cyprus (8.5%).

The main trading partners of Belarus in 2008 were Russia with 46.9% of gross turnover, the Netherlands (8.2%), Ukraine (6.8%), Germany (5%), Poland (4.1%), Latvia (3.2%), the United Kingdom (2.4%), China (2.8%), Brasil (1.9%), Italy (1.6%) and Lithuania (1.2%).
The currency of Belarus is the Belarusian ruble.