Economical overview
Bauxite, tourism, telecommunications service
centers as well as money shipments from Jamaicans abroad
provide the main revenue in Jamaica. The informal sector
is also important.
In the 1960s, the economy was based almost
exclusively on the cultivation of sugar cane and other
tropical crops, for own use and export. Since then, the
economy has been transformed and the service sector is
now dominating. However, growth has been significantly
lower than in neighboring countries since the 1970s, and
per capita income has increased only slowly since the
early 1990s. At the same time, the informal sector is
estimated to correspond to around 40 percent of gross
domestic product (GDP).
-
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Exports of bauxite and alumina as well as a great
need for imported oil make the economy vulnerable to
fluctuations in the international economy. The economy
has been hampered by social unrest in the country and by
a number of natural disasters, mainly hurricanes.
Tourism accounts for almost a third of GDP. The
sector is a major source of foreign currency. Money that
foreign Jamaicans send to relatives is estimated to
yield almost as much currency and accounts for one sixth
of GDP.
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Trade with the EU is important
Jamaica and other former colonies to EU countries
have gradually lost many of the benefits they previously
had on the EU market through the so-called Cotonou
Agreement. The negative effects this has, not least on
sugar and banana exports, are offset to some extent by
the fact that since 2008 Jamaica has an Economic
Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU.
Jamaica is drawn with large deficits in the state
budget. Government debt, which consists of both foreign
and domestic loans, has been above 100 percent of GDP
since the turn of the millennium. Among the causes of
the large budget deficit are modest tax revenues and
large wage costs in the public sector.
The dependence is high on aid and loans from, among
other things, the Inter-American Development Bank and
individual countries. Since the late 1970s, the country
has implemented loan programs with the support of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address the budget
deficits and increase growth. The measures have meant
austerity, increased taxes and the privatization of
state-owned enterprises.
FACTS - FINANCE
GDP per person
US $ 5,356 (2018)
Total GDP
US $ 15,718 million (2018)
GDP growth
1.9 percent (2018)
Agriculture's share of GDP
6.7 percent (2018)
Manufacturing industry's share of GDP
7.7 percent (2018)
The service sector's share of GDP
59.2 percent (2018)
Inflation
3.6 percent (2019)
Government debt's share of GDP
94.4 percent (2018)
External debt
US $ 14 722 million (2017)
Currency
Jamaican dollar
Merchandise exports
US $ 1,895 million (2018)
Imports
US $ 5,437 million (2018)
Current account
- US $ 464 million (2018)
Commodity trade's share of GDP
50 percent (2018)
Main export goods
bauxite, aluminum, sugar, bananas, rum
Largest trading partner
USA, Canada, EU countries, Venezuela, Trinidad and
Tobago
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