By official measures of their contributions to the gross domestic product (GDP--see Glossary) at current prices, agriculture and fishing accounted for 22 percent of total output in the 1950s but only 14 percent by 1990. Manufacturing fell slightly from 23 percent in the 1950s to 22 percent in 1990. The share of mining increased from 6 percent in the 1950s to 11 percent in 1990. Services, construction, and government combined rose from 52 percent in the 1950s to 53 percent by 1990 (see fig. 8).

All such measures are subject to uncertainty in all countries, but especially so in Peru. One reason is that Peru's national accounts have excluded illegal production of coca and its derivatives. Unofficial estimates suggest that their value in 1989 would have added 4 percent to GDP for the year and 11 percent to the official value of agricultural production. A second reason for doubt is that Peru has an exceptionally large "informal sector" of unregulated activities, producing many services and some manufacturing outside of any official framework of reporting. Although the government includes estimates of such production in the national accounts and there is no systematic evidence that it has been either over- or underestimated, no one can be sure.

Data as of September 1992