Barbados Guide

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 St 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

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