Barbados Economy:
Historically, the Barbadian economy had been dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but production in recent years has diversified into light industry and tourism. Offshore finance and information services are important foreign exchange earners. The government continues its efforts to reduce unemployment, to encourage direct foreign investment, and to privatize remaining state-owned enterprises. The economy contracted in 2002-03 mainly due to a decline in tourism. Growth probably was positive in 2004, as economic conditions in the US and Europe moderately improved.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$4.57 billion (2004 est.)
GDP — real growth rate:
2.3% (2004 est.)
GDP — per capita:
purchasing power parity: $16,400 (2004 est.)
GDP — composition by sector:
agriculture: 6%
industry: 16%
services: 78%
(2000)
Labor force:
128,500 (2001 est.)
Labor force — by occupation:
agriculture: 10%, industry: 15%, services: 75% (1996 est.)
Unemployment rate:
10.7% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
-0.5% (2003 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $847 million (including grants) (2000 est.)
expenditures: $886 million including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.)
Agriculture — products:
Sugarcane, vegetables, cotton
Industries:
tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export
Industrial production growth rate:
-3.2% (2000 est.)
Electricity — production:
800 million kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity — consumption:
744 million kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity — exports:
0 kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity — imports:
0 kWh (2002 est.)
Oil — production:
1,271 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil — consumption:
10,900 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil — exports:
NA
Oil — imports:
NA
Oil — proved reserves:
1.25 million bbl (1 January 2002 est.)
Natural gas — production:
29.17 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas — consumption:
29.17 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas — exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas — imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas — proved reserves:
70.79 million cu m (1 January 2002 est.)
Exports:
$206 million (2002 est.)
Exports — commodities:
sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages 97%, chemicals, electrical components
Exports — partners:
US 20.6%, UK 14.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.9%, Saint Lucia 6.9%, Jamaica 6.6%, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5.1% (2004)
Imports:
$1.04 billion (2002 est.)
Imports — commodities:
consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components
Imports — partners:
US 35.2%, Trinidad and Tobago 20%, UK 5.6%, Japan 4.3% (2004)
Debt — external:
$668 million (2003 est.)
Economic aid — recipient:
$9.1 million (1995 est.)
Currency:
Barbadian dollar (BBD)
Exchange rates:
Barbadian dollars per US$: 2 (2004 est.), 2 (2003 est.), 2 (2002 est.), 2 (2001 est.), 2 (2000 est.)
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
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