Bolivia, 1900–39: Mining, Railways and Education

Abstract

During the first 40 years of this century, the Bolivian economy was a classic example of rapid export-led growth, based on tin exports. This new export expansion consolidated Bolivia’s entrance into the international market in the last third of the nineteenth century with the export of silver. However, Bolivia’s export base at the onset of the twentieth century was more diversified than it was to be by the end of the 1930s. In 1900, silver represented 36 per cent of Bolivia’s total exports, rubber represented 26 per cent, while the tin industry was responsible for the remaining 24 per cent. The relative importance of tin surpassed the importance of silver and rubber by 1903. Silver exports decreased significantly from 1905 onwards. Rubber exports remained stable until 1910, when they accounted for 37 per cent of total exports, but thereafter decreased, reaching 5 per cent in 1920.1