Economy—overview: Historically the Barbadian economy had been dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities but production in recent years has diversified into manufacturing and tourism. The start of the Port Charles Marina project in Speightstown helped the tourism industry continue to expand in 1996-97. The government continues its efforts to reduce the unacceptably high unemployment rate encourage direct foreign investment and privatize remaining state-owned enterprises.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$2.8 billion (1997 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: 3% (1997 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$10 900 (1997 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 7%
industry: 17%
services: 76% (1996 est.)

Inflation rate—consumer price index: 2.4% (1996)

Labor force:
total: 68 900 (1996)
by occupation: services 75% industry 15% agriculture 10% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 16.2% (1996)

Budget:
revenues: $600 million
expenditures: $645 million including capital expenditures of $80 million (FY96/97 est.)

Industries: tourism sugar light manufacturing component assembly for export

Industrial production growth rate: 0.8% (1996)

Electricity—capacity: 140 000 kW (1995)

Electricity—production: 591.5 million kWh (1996)

Electricity—consumption per capita: 2 145 kWh (1995)

Agriculture—products: sugarcane vegetables cotton

Exports:
total value: $235 million (f.o.b. 1995)
commodities: sugar and molasses rum other foods and beverages chemicals electrical components clothing
partners: US 15% UK 15% Trinidad and Tobago 9% Windward Islands 8%

Imports:
total value: $763 million (c.i.f. 1995)
commodities: consumer goods machinery foodstuffs construction materials chemicals fuel electrical components
partners: US 37% Trinidad and Tobago 11% UK 10% Japan 7%

Debt—external: $359 million (December 1996)

Economic aid: $NA

Currency: 1 Barbadian dollar (Bds$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Barbadian dollars (Bds$) per US$1—2.0000 (fixed rate pegged to the dollar)

Fiscal year: 1 April—31 March