Reunion Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
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: 19%
services: 73% (2000 est.)

Labor force:
309,900 (2000)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 13%, industry 12%, services 75% (2000)

Unemployment rate:
36% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA%

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)

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:
1.166 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
1.084 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
18,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Exports:
$214 million f.o.b. (1997)

Exports - commodities:
sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993)

Exports - partners:
France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000)

Imports:
$2.5 billion c.i.f. (1997)

Imports - commodities:
manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products

Imports - partners:
France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000)

Debt - external:
$NA

Economic aid - recipient:
NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France (2001 est.)

Currency (code):
euro (EUR)

Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)