Jamaica
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| Introduction - Jamaica: | | Location - Jamaica: | | People - Jamaica: | | Government - Jamaica: | | Economy - Jamaica: | Economy overview | 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. Jamaicas economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, was hit hard by Hurricane Ivan in late 2004, but has made a gradual recovery. 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 high debt burden - the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Following a strategy begun in 2004, Jamaica has reduced its public debt to 133.3% of GDP. Inflation also had declined to 5.8% at the end of 2006. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence fueled by the drug trade. The government 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 | $12.82 billion (2006 est.) | | Gdp official exchange rate | $9.23 billion (2006 est.) | | Gdp real growth rate | 2.3% (2006 est.) | | Gdp per capita ppp | $4,600 (2006 est.) | | Gdp composition by sector | agriculture: 5.2%
industry: 27.3%
services: 67.5% (2006 est.) | | Labor force | 1.1 million (2006 est.) | | Labor force by occupation | agriculture: 18.1%
industry: 17.3%
services: 64.6% (2004) | | Unemployment rate | 11.3% (2006 est.) | | Population below poverty line | 14.8% (2003 est.) | | Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.3% (2000) | | Distribution of family income gini index | 38.1 (2003) | | Inflation rate consumer prices | 5.8% (2006 est.) | | Investment gross fixed | 30.8% of GDP (2006 est.) | | Budget | revenues: $2.85 billion
expenditures: $3.174 billion; including capital expenditures of $180.4 million (2006 est.) | | Public debt | 133.3% of GDP (2006 est.) | | Agriculture products | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks | | Industries | tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications | | Industrial production growth rate | -2% (2000 est.) | | Electricity production | 6.913 billion kWh (2004) | | Electricity consumption | 6.429 billion kWh (2004) | | Electricity exports | 0 kWh (2004) | | Electricity imports | 0 kWh (2004) | | Oil production | 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) | | Oil consumption | 72,080 bbl/day (2004 est.) | | Oil exports | NA bbl/day | | Oil imports | NA bbl/day | | Oil proved reserves | 0 bbl | | Natural gas production | 0 cu m (2004 est.) | | Natural gas consumption | 0 cu m (2004 est.) | | Current account balance | -$970 million (2006 est.) | | Exports | $2.087 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) | | Exports commodities | alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels | | Exports partners | US 23.7%, Canada 16.5%, China 15.1%, UK 10.1%, Germany 7.5%, Netherlands 6.4%, Norway 5.9% (2006) | | Imports | $4.682 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) | | Imports commodities | food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials | | Imports partners | US 39.4%, Trinidad and Tobago 14.4%, Venezuela 5.8% (2006) | | Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $2.317 billion (2006 est.) | | Debt external | $7.384 billion (2006 est.) | | Economic aid recipient | $254.7 million (2004) | | Currency code | Jamaican dollar (JMD) | | Exchange rates | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 65.768 (2006), 62.51 (2005), 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003), 48.416 (2002) | |
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This page was last updated on 16 September, 2007
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