Uruguay Archives - Economy Watch

Uruguay Votes To Legalise Marijuana Sales

Uruguay’s lower House of Representative on Wednesday voted to approve a controversial bill which would – for the first time – put a government in charge of the production, distribution and sale of legal marijuana.

Under the bill, which still has to be approved by the Senate, only the government would assume “the control and regulation of the importation, exportation, plantation, cultivation, the harvest, the production, the acquisition, the storage, the commercialisation and the distribution of cannabis and its by-products”.

Uruguay To Become First Government In The World To Sell Marijuana To Citizens

Marijuana smokers in Uruguay will soon be able to purchase the drug directly from their government, reported the Associated Press on Wednesday, with authorities set to pass a bill that will register and track drug users across the country.

Uruguay Import and Export

Uruguay has experienced a better trade environment over the years.

Its major exports are leather products, electricity, vehicle and rice. Important exports partners of the country are United States and EU.

Important importable commodities in the country are crude petroleum, machinery and electrical vehicles. Its imports partners are EU and US.

Levels of Exports and Imports in the country is as follows:

Structure of Uruguay Economy

The percentage share of services sector in the total GDP of the country is the highest followed by industrial sector. Services sector accounted for 61.1 percent of total GDP as in the year 2004.

Industries in Uruguay include textiles, chemicals, electrical and food processing.

Major agricultural goods in the country are rice, wheat, barley, fish and livestock.

The following diagram shows the percentage share of various sectors in the total GDP of the country:

Uruguay Economy

Uruguay is an upper middle income country comes under Latin America and Caribbean region, according to the classification made by the World Bank on the basis of income and region fro year 2006. The country has a total surface area of 176.2 thousand square kilometers as in 2004 with a total forest area of 14,090.0 square kilometers in 2000.

Uruguay – Fast Facts

Uruguay is an upper middle-income economy comes under the Latin American and Caribbean region, as to the classification made by the World Bank on the basis of income and region for the year 2006.

The services sector constitutes a larger share in the total GDP of the country followed by the industries. Though the percentage share of the agriculture in the total GDP is comparatively lower, still this sector is important with regards to exports.