Uruguay - Economic sectors
While agriculture accounted for only 4 percent of the nation's workforce, it provided 10 percent of Uruguay's GDP and more than half of the country's exports. More significantly, agricultural products provided the main raw materials for the nation's largest industries. Among the main agricultural products are beef, wool, grains, fruits, and vegetables. Agriculture is also one of the few areas of the economy in which there is little government interference. A late 1990s devaluation of the Brazilian currency hurt Uruguayan agriculture by making Brazilian products cheaper and Uruguayan goods more expensive. As a result, agricultural output declined by 8 percent in 1999. For the 3-year period prior to 1999, agriculture experienced little or no growth.
Industry accounts for 28 percent of the nation's GDP and 30 percent of the workforce. The nation's main industries include food processing, construction, and leather production. In the late 1990s, Uruguayan industry has had mixed performance. In 1999, manufacturing fell by 8.4 percent, but construction grew by 6 percent.
Services make up the largest segment of the Uruguayan economy, accounting for 62 percent of GDP (1999) and 66 percent of the workforce. While much of the Uruguayan economy declined in 1999, services experienced