Economy - overview Historically, the Barbadian economy had been dependent on sugarcanecultivation and related activities, but in recent years the production hasdiversified into manufacturing and tourism. The start of the Port CharlesMarina project in Speightstown helped the tourism industry continue to expandin 1996. The industry generated $331.8 million by the end of June and wasexpected to double by the end of the year. Prime Minister Owen ARTHUR calledfor "prudent" financial management to ensure that economic growth would continue.As part of his plan, the Prime Minister introduced a controversial Value AddedTax (VAT) in an effort to reform the tax administration process. The VAT willbe administered at 15% for most industries and 7% for the tourism industry.The government has also continued its efforts to promote regional integrationinitiatives, to reduce the unacceptably high unemployment rate, and to encouragedirect foreign investment.

GDP purchasing power parity - $2.65 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 3.5% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $10,300 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 6.4%
industry: 39.3%
services: 54.3% (1994)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 1.8% (1995)

Labor force
total: 126,000 (1993)
by occupation: services and government 41%, commerce 15%, manufacturing and construction18%, transportation, storage, communications, and financial institutions 8%,agriculture 6%, utilities 2% (1992 est.)

Unemployment rate 16.2% (1996)

Budget
revenues: $550 million
expenditures: $710 million, including capital expenditures of $86 million (FY95/96est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate 7.7% (1995)

Electricity - capacity 153,000 kW (1995)

Electricity - production 644 million kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 2,208 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products sugarcane, vegetables, cotton

Exports
total value: $235 million (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electricalcomponents, clothing
partners: US 13%, UK 10%, 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 36%, UK 11%, Trinidad and Tobago 11%, Japan 3%

Debt - external $359 million (December 1996)

Economic aid $NA

Currency 1 Barbadian dollar (Bds$) = 100 cents

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

Fiscal year 1 April - 31 March

NOTE: The information regarding Barbados on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Barbados Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Barbados Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.