Reunion Economy:
The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France.
GDP (purchasing power parity:
$4.57 billion (2004 est.)
GDP — real growth rate:
2.5% (2004 est.)
GDP — per capita:
purchasing power parity: $6,000 (2004 est.)
GDP — composition by sector:
agriculture: 8%
industry: 12%
services: 73%
(2000)
Labor force:
309,900 (2000 est.)
Labor force — by occupation:
agriculture: 13%, industry: 12%, services: 75% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate:
36% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA
Budget:
revenues: $1.26 billion
expenditures: $2.62 billion including capital expenditures of NA (1998 est.)
Agriculture products:
Sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn
Industries:
sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction
Industrial production growth rate:
NA
Electricity — production:
1.17 billion kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity — consumption:
1.08 billion kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity — exports:
0 kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity — imports:
0 kWh (2002 est.)
Oil — production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil — consumption:
18,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil — exports:
NA (2001 est.)
Oil — imports:
NA (2001 est.)
Exports:
$214 million (f.o.b. 1997 est.)
Exports — commodities:
sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3% (1993 est.)
Exports — partners:
France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000)
Imports:
$2.5 billion (c.i.f. 1997 est.)
Imports — commodities:
manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, petroleum products (1993 est.)
Imports — partners:
France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000)
Debt — external:
NA
Economic — aid recipient:
NA (2001 est.)
note: Substantial annual subsidies from France
NA
Currency:
euro (EUR)
Exchange rates:
euros per US$: 0.81 (2004 est.), 0.89 (2003 est.), 1.06 (2002 est.), 1.12 (2001 est.), 1.09 (2000 est.)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
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