The following lists events that happened during 2020 in Laos. 24 March – The country confirmed its first two COVID-19 cases, becoming the last Southeast Asian country infected with coronavirus. [1] 27 March – Vietnam offers help to the country against the coronavirus by sending medical equipment worth US$ 100,000. [2]

The COVID-19 pandemic in Laos is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On 24 March 2020, Laos became the last country in Southeast Asia …

In 2020, early in the COVID-19 outbreak, the Lao Government was swift in enacting a nationwide lockdown to contain the public health impact of the pandemic. Resultantly, the country has so far recorded a relatively limited number of confirmed cases.

Poverty in Lao PDR has continued to fall. The poverty rate more than halved between 1993 and 2019, falling from 46 percent to 18 percent – mirroring rapid Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of an annual average rate of 7.3 percent during the same period.

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is ruled by its only constitutionally authorized party, the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party. The most recent National Assembly election held in 2016 was not free and fair. The ruling party selected all candidates, and voting is mandatory for all citizens.

For the purposes of the 1995 census, the government of Laos recognised 149 ethnic groups within 47 main ethnicities. [9] whereas the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) recently revised the list to include 49 ethnicities consisting of over 160 ethnic groups.

Four key interrelated themes mark 2020 in Laos: COVID-19 and its effects; rising debt linked to overzealous borrowing to fund infrastructure-led development; growing (debt) dependency on China; and continued party-state violence against

Laos is a one-party state in which the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) dominates all aspects of politics and harshly restricts civil liberties. There is no organized opposition and no truly independent civil society.

National GHG emissions in 2020 have been estimated around 53,000 ktCO2e through deducting the GHG mitigation measures implemented across all sectors since 2000 from the baseline scenario. Therefore, between 2000 and 2020 Lao PDR achieved to reduce emissions by 34% compared to the

Lao PDR’s economic growth in 2020 is projected to range between negative 1.8 and 1 percent due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures adopted to contain its spread. The economic downturn has particularly affected the service sector.