| 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. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, was hit hard by Hurricane Ivan in late 2004, but has made a gradual recovery. 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 high debt burden - the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Following a strategy begun in 2004, Jamaica has reduced its public debt to 133.3% of GDP. Inflation also had declined to 5.8% at the end of 2006. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence fueled by the drug trade. The government 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. |
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| GDP | 0.6% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 2.3% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5.2%
industry: 27.3%
services: 67.5% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 14.8% (2003 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.3% (2000) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 38.1 (2003) |
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| Labor force | 1.1 million (2006 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 18.1%
industry: 17.3%
services: 64.6% (2004) |
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| Unemployment rate | 11.3% (2006 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $2.85 billion
expenditures: $3.174 billion; including capital expenditures of $180.4 million (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications |
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| Industrial production growth rate | -2% (2000 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 6.913 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 96.8%
hydro: 1.8%
nuclear: 0%
other: 1.4% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 6.429 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - consumption | 72,080 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 | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks |
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| Exports | $2.087 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels |
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| Exports - partners | US 25.8%, Canada 19.3%, UK 10.7%, Netherlands 8.6%, China 7%, Norway 6.4%, Germany 5.6% (2005) |
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| Imports | $4.682 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials |
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| Imports - partners | US 41.4%, Trinidad and Tobago 14%, Venezuela 5.5%, Japan 4.6% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $7.384 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $254.7 million (2004) |
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| Currency code | JMD |
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| Exchange rates | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 65.768 (2006), 62.51 (2005), 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003), 48.416 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March |
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