Bolivia’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, which was valued at $30.6 billion, increased by 6.8%; this growth rate was second only to Panama in the Latin America region and double that of the GDP growth rate of South America as a whole. The hydrocarbon sector led the economic growth in Bolivia followed by the communication, storage, and transportation sector. According to estimates for 2012 and 2013, the value of activity in the natural gas and crude petroleum sector accounted for about 14% of the country’s GDP in 2013 compared with 14.7% in 2012, and the value of metallic and nonmetallic minerals accounted for 2.9% in both years. The industrial manufacturing sector accounted for 6.1% of the GDP in 2013.