nist countries 1.4% (1991)

Imports: $120 billion (c.i.f., 1992) Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union

commodities: fuels, grains, chemicals, foodstuffs
partners: EC 73%, US 4.8%, oil-exporting less developed countries 4%,
former Communist countries 1.8% (1991)

External debt: $31.3 billion (1992 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate -0.1% (1993 est.); accounts for 25%
of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 14,040,000 kW
production: 66 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 6,334 kWh (1993)

Industries: engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly,
processed food and beverages, chemicals, basic metals, textiles,
glass, petroleum, coal

Agriculture: accounts for 2.0% of GDP; emphasis on livestock
production - beef, veal, pork, milk; major crops are sugar beets,
fresh vegetables, fruits, grain, tobacco; net importer of farm
products

Illicit drugs: source of precursor chemicals for South American
cocaine processors; transshipment point for cocaine entering the
European market

Economic aid:
donor: ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $5.8 billion

Currency: 1 Belgian franc (BF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Belgian francs (BF) per US$1 - 31.549 (January 1995),
33.456 (1994), 34.597 (1993), 32.150 (1992), 34.148 (1991), 33.418
(1990)

Fiscal year: calendar year

@Belgium:Transportation

Railroads:
total: 3,410 km (2,362 km electrified; 2,563 km double track)
standard gauge: 3,410 km 1.435-m gauge (1994)

Highways:
total: 137,912 km
paved: 129,639 km (including 1,667 km of limited access divided
highway)
unpaved: 8,273 km (1992)

Inland waterways: 2,043 km (1,528 km in regular commercial use)

Pipelines: crude oil 161 km; petroleum products 1,167 km; natural gas
3,300 km

Ports: Antwerp, Brugge, Gent, Hasselt, Liege, Mons, Namur, Oostende,
Zeebrugge

Merchant marine:
total: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 42,055 GRT/56,842 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 9, chemical tanker 6, liquefied gas 2,
oil tanker 5

Airports:
total: 43
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 6
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1
with paved runways under 914 m: 22
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 3

@Belgium:Communications

Telephone system: 4,720,000 telephones; highly developed,
technologically advanced, and completely automated domestic and
international telephone and t