| Economy - overview | Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America and one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income and massive unemployment, is banking on expanded trade under the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The country has met most of its macroeconomic targets, and began a three-year IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) program in February 2004. The economy relies heavily on a narrow range of exports, notably bananas and coffee, making it vulnerable to natural disasters and shifts in commodity prices, but in recent years has experienced a rapid rise in exports of light manufacturers. Growth remains dependent on the economy of the US, its largest trading partner, and on reduction of the high crime rate, as a means of attracting and maintaining investment. |
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| GDP | 0.6% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 13.6%
industry: 31.4%
services: 55% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 53% (1993 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.6%
highest 10%: 42.7% (1998) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 55 (1999) |
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| Labor force | 2.589 million (2006 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 34%
industry: 23%
services: 43% (2003 est.) |
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| Unemployment rate | 27.9% (2006 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $2.002 billion
expenditures: $2.028 billion; including capital expenditures of $106 million (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 7.7% (2003 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 4.805 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 50.2%
hydro: 49.8%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 4.824 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 356 million kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - consumption | 37,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - exports | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - imports | NA bbl/day |
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| Agriculture - products | bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp |
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| Exports | $1.947 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber |
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| Exports - partners | US 73.3%, Guatemala 2.9%, El Salvador 2.9% (2005) |
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| Imports | $4.86 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs |
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| Imports - partners | US 52.6%, Guatemala 6.4%, El Salvador 4.1% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $5.587 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $557.8 million (1999) |
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| Currency code | HNL |
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| Exchange rates | lempiras per US dollar - 18.895 (2006), 18.92 (2005), 18.206 (2004), 17.345 (2003), 16.433 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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