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Beyond Expeditions. Beyond Business.
Beyond Imagination.
Top Destinations
Travelers' Choice
Beyond Expeditions. Beyond Business.
Beyond Imagination.
Beyond Expeditions. Beyond Business.
Beyond Imagination.
Beyond Expeditions. Beyond Business.
Beyond Imagination.
Bhutan’s economy is small but unusual. It rests on clean hydropower, farming and carefully managed tourism, and its growth is judged against a national goal of Gross National Happiness rather than income alone.
| Currency | Ngultrum (BTN), pegged one-to-one to the Indian rupee |
| Largest export | Electricity from hydropower, mostly sold to India |
| Main trading partner | India |
| Largest employer | Agriculture, which still supports a large share of households |
| Guiding policy | Gross National Happiness |
Fast rivers falling through steep valleys give Bhutan enormous hydropower potential. Major plants include Chhukha, Tala, Kurichhu, Dagachhu, Mangdechhu and Punatsangchhu-II, inaugurated in 2025, and more are being built. Almost all of Bhutan’s own electricity comes from water, and surplus power sold to India is the country’s largest source of export earnings. Many projects have been developed in partnership with India.
Much of the population still lives in rural areas and farms small plots, often on steep terraces. Rice, maize, wheat, buckwheat and potatoes are the main crops, along with chillies, vegetables and dairy. Cash crops such as cardamom, oranges, apples and areca nut are sold to India and Bangladesh. Bhutan has long promoted organic and low-chemical farming.
Since opening to visitors in 1974, Bhutan has followed a policy of “high value, low volume” tourism. Visitors pay a daily Sustainable Development Fee that helps fund free healthcare, free education and conservation, and international tourists travel with licensed Bhutanese guides. Tourism is a major source of foreign currency and of jobs for guides, drivers, hoteliers and craftspeople.
Industry includes cement, ferro-alloys, calcium carbide and other energy-intensive manufacturing, much of it in the southern towns near the Indian border. Bhutan imports fuel, vehicles, machinery and many everyday goods, mainly from India.
Bhutan aims to create more jobs for its young, increasingly educated population and to reduce emigration. In December 2023 His Majesty the King announced Gelephu Mindfulness City, a special administrative region in the south designed to attract sustainable investment and connect Bhutan more closely to South and South-East Asia.
See also Gross National Happiness.