Jamaica Economy 2008

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. Remittances account for nearly 20% of GDP and are equivalent to tourism revenues. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, will suffer an economic setback from damages caused by Hurricane Dean in August 2007. 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 debt-to-GDP ratio of 135%. Jamaica's onerous debt burden - the fourth highest per capita - is the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Inflation also has declined, standing at about 7% at the end of 2007. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence that is fueled by the drug trade. The GOLDING administration 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):
$13.47 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$8.905 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
1.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$4,800 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 34%
services: 61% (2007 est.)

Labor force:
1.255 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 17%
industry: 19%
services: 64% (2006)

Unemployment rate:
10.2% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:
14.8% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 35.8% (2004)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
45.5 (2004)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
7.1% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
34.1% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $3.441 billion
expenditures: $3.905 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:
134.3% of GDP (2007 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% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:
6.985 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
6.131 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
72,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
1,531 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
71,420 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
-$1.573 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:
$2.229 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:
alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels

Exports - partners:
US 30.2%, Canada 15.6%, China 15.2%, UK 10.3%, Netherlands 7%, Norway 4.6% (2006)

Imports:
$5.709 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - partners:
US 39.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.6%, Venezuela 9.5% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$35.74 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.95 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:
$7.138 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$12.28 billion (2006)

Currency (code):
Jamaican dollar (JMD)

Exchange rates:
Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 69.034 (2007), 65.768 (2006), 62.51 (2005), 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003)