Overview: A per capita income of $6,500 gives Barbados one of the highest standards of living of all the small island states of the eastern Caribbean. Historically, the economy was based on the cultivation of sugarcane and related activities. In recent years, however, the economy has diversified into manufacturing and tourism. The tourist industry is now a major employer of the labor force and a primary source of foreign exchange. An unemployment rate of 18% remains one of the most serious economic problems facing the country.

GDP: $1.7 billion, per capita $6,500; real growth rate 3.6% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.2% (1989)

Unemployment: 18% (1990)

Budget: revenues $501 million; expenditures $484 million, including capital expenditures of $113 million (FY91)

Exports: $165 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.); commodities--sugar and molasses, chemicals, electrical components, clothing, rum, machinery and transport equipment
partners: CARICOM 30%, US 20%, UK 20%

Imports: $701 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.); commodities--foodstuffs, consumer durables, raw materials, machinery, crude oil, construction materials, chemicals; partners--US 35%, CARICOM 13%, UK 12%, Japan 6%, Canada 8%, Venezuela 4%

External debt: $550 million (June 1990 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate - 1.5% (1989); accounts for 14 % of GDP

Electricity: 132,000 kW capacity; 494 million kWh produced, 1,880 kWh per capita (1990)

Industries: tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export

Agriculture: accounts for 10% of GDP; major cash crop is sugarcane; other crops--vegetables and cotton; not self-sufficient in food

Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $15 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $169 million

Currency: Barbadian dollars (plural--dollars); 1 Barbadian dollar (Bds$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Barbadian dollars (Bds$) per US$1--2.0113 (fixed rate)

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

NOTE: The information regarding Barbados on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Barbados Economy 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Barbados Economy 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.