Population
8.0M
Unitary Communist state
GDP per capita, PPP
$13,298
in 2031
Passport power
#176
20 visa-free destinations
Cities rated
9
Top: Luang Prabang
Country overview
- Official name
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Capital
- Vientiane
- Continent
- Asia / South-Eastern Asia
- Area
- 236,800 km²
- Population
- 8.0M
- Density
- 29.0/km²
- Government
- Unitary Communist state
- UN member
- Yes
- Independent
- Yes
- Driving side
- Right
- TLD
- .la
- Calling code
- +856
- Timezone
- UTC+07:00
Visa and travel
- Passport power rank
- #176 of 199
- Visa-free destinations
- 20
- Total accessible
- 45
Culture and society
- Languages
- Lao (ພາສາລາວ)
- Religions
- Buddhism 66.0%, Tai folk religion 30.7%, Christianity 1.5%, Other 1.8%
- Currencies
- ₠LAK — Lao kip
Key figures
- HDI
- 0.617
- GDP per capita (2031)
- $13,298
- Life expectancy (2024)
- 69.2 yrs
- Internet users (2024)
- 65.6%
- Gini index (2018)
- 38.8
- Inflation (2031)
- 9.0%
- Unemployment (2025)
- 1.2%
- Urban population (2025)
- 40.3%
- Life satisfaction (2025)
- 5.5/10
- PM2.5 (2024)
- 27.0 µg/m³
- Human capital (2020)
- 0.46