| People | Jamaica |
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Economy - overview:
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The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for more than 60% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. Remittances account for nearly 20% of GDP and are equivalent to tourism revenues. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, will suffer an economic setback from damages caused by Hurricane Dean in August 2007. The economy faces serious long-term problems: high but declining interest rates, increased foreign competition, exchange rate instability, a sizable merchandise trade deficit, large-scale unemployment and underemployment, and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 135%. Jamaica's onerous debt burden - the fourth highest per capita - is the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Inflation also has declined, standing at about 7% at the end of 2007. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence that is fueled by the drug trade. The GOLDING administration faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a serious and growing crime problem that is hampering economic growth. |
GDP (purchasing power parity):
|
$13.47 billion (2007 est.) |
GDP (official exchange rate):
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$8.905 billion (2007 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate:
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1.5% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$4,800 (2007 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 5%
industry: 34%
services: 61% (2007 est.) |
Investment (gross fixed):
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34.1% of GDP (2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line:
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14.8% (2003 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 35.8% (2004) |
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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45.5 (2004) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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7.1% (2007 est.) |
Labor force:
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1.255 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force participation rate:
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44.75 % of population |
Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 17%
industry: 19%
services: 64% (2006) |
Unemployment rate:
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10.2% (2007 est.) |
Budget:
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revenues: $3.441 billion
expenditures: $3.905 billion (2007 est.) |
Budget revenues per capita:
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1,228 USD per capita |
Public debt:
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134.3% of GDP (2007 est.) |
Industries:
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tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications |
Industrial production growth rate:
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2% (2007 est.) |
Electricity - production:
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6.985 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production per capita:
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2,491 kWh per capita |
Electricity - consumption:
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6.131 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - consumption - per capita:
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2,187 kWh per capita |
Electricity - exports:
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0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports:
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0 kWh (2005) |
Oil - production:
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0 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
Oil - production per capita:
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void |
Oil - consumption:
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72,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
Oil - consumption - per capita:
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9.37 bbl/year per capita |
Oil - exports:
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1,531 bbl/day (2004) |
Oil - imports:
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71,420 bbl/day (2004) |
Oil - proved reserves:
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0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
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0 cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - production per capita:
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void |
Natural gas - consumption:
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0 cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption - per capita:
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void |
Natural gas - exports:
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0 cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - imports:
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0 cu m (2005) |
Natural gas - proved reserves:
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0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products:
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sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks |
Current account balance:
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-$1.573 billion (2007 est.) |
Current account balance - per capita:
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-560 USD per capita |
Exports:
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$2.229 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
Exports per capita:
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795 USD per capita |
Exports - commodities:
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alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels |
Exports - partners:
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US 30.2%, Canada 15.6%, China 15.2%, UK 10.3%, Netherlands 7%, Norway 4.6% (2006) |
Imports:
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$5.709 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
Imports per capita:
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2,036 USD per capita |
Imports - commodities:
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food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials |
Imports - partners:
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US 39.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.6%, Venezuela 9.5% (2006) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$1.95 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold - per capita:
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696 USD per capita |
Debt - external:
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$7.138 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Debt - external - per capita:
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2,546 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
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void |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
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void |
Market value of publicly traded shares:
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$12.28 billion (2006) |
Economic aid - donor:
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void |
Economic aid - recipient:
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$35.74 million (2005) |
Economic aid - recipient per capita:
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13 USD per capita |
Currency (code):
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Jamaican dollar (JMD) |
Exchange rates:
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Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 69.034 (2007), 65.768 (2006), 62.51 (2005), 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003) |
Fiscal year:
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1 April - 31 March |
|
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