Bahamas, The Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
The Bahamas is a stable, developing nation with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism alone accounts for more than 60% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs half of the archipelago's labor force. Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences had led to solid GDP growth in recent years, but the slowdown in the US economy and the attacks of 11 September 2001 held back growth in these sectors in 2001-03. Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy, accounting for about 15% of GDP. However, since December 2000, when the government enacted new regulations on the financial sector, many international businesses have left The Bahamas. Manufacturing and agriculture together contribute approximately a tenth of GDP and show little growth, despite government incentives aimed at those sectors. Overall growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector, which depends on growth in the US, the source of more than 80% of the visitors. In addition to tourism and banking, the government supports the development of a "third pillar," e-commerce.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $5.295 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
3% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $17,700 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3%
industry: 7%
services: 90% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
156,000 (1999)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
10.2% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: 27% (2000)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.2% (year ending September 2004)

Budget:
revenues: $1 billion
expenditures: $1 billion, including capital expenditures of $106.7 million (FY03/04)

Agriculture - products:
citrus, vegetables; poultry

Industries:
tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe

Industrial production growth rate:
NA

Electricity - production:
1.716 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
1.596 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2002)

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

Oil - consumption:
23,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
transhipments of 29,000 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - imports:
NA

Exports:
$636 million (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals; fruit and vegetables

Exports - partners:
US 42.1%, Spain 10.3%, Poland 6.1%, Germany 6.1%, Switzerland 4.9%, Paraguay 4.8%, France 4.5%, Mexico 4.5% (2004)

Imports:
$1.63 billion (2003)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals

Imports - partners:
US 22.3%, South Korea 19%, Japan 8.2%, Brazil 8.2%, Italy 8.1%, Venezuela 6.8% (2004)

Debt - external:
$308.5 million (2002)

Economic aid - recipient:
$9.8 million (1995)

Currency (code):
Bahamian dollar (BSD)

Exchange rates:
Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2004), 1 (2003), 1 (2002), 1 (2001), 1 (2000)