ECONOMY
Economy
- overview:
The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and light
industry. Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GDP and the small
industrial sector for 11%. Sugar production has declined, with
most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana
exports are increasing, going mostly to France. The bulk of meat,
vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing
to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers
of aid from France. Tourism, which employs more than 11,000 people,
has become more important than agricultural exports as a source
of foreign exchange.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $6.117 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
NA
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $14,400 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 6%
industry: 11%
services: 83% (1997 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.9% (1990)
Labor force:
165,900 (1998)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 10%, industry 17%, services 73% (1997)
Unemployment rate:
27.2% (1998)
Budget:
revenues: $900 million
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of
$140 million (1996)
Agriculture - products:
pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane
Industries:
construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
NA
Electricity - production:
1.151 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption:
1.07 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
13,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Exports:
$250 million f.o.b. (1997)
Exports - commodities:
refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples (2001 est.)
Exports - partners:
France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (2000)
Imports:
$2 billion c.i.f. (1997)
Imports - commodities:
petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials,
vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods
Imports - partners:
France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, US 3% (2000)
Debt - external:
$180 million (1994)
Economic aid - recipient:
$NA; note - substantial annual aid from France (1998)
Currency:
euro (EUR)
Currency code:
EUR
Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.8860 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001),
1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995
(1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
