Cuba

The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. The government announced it would eliminate 500,000 state jobs by March 2011 and has expanded opportunities for self-employment. President CASTRO said such changes were needed to update the economic model to ensure the survival of socialism. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban’s standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 100,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel in Venezuela including some 30,000 medical professionals.

$114.1 billion (2010 est.)

$112.4 billion (2009 est.)

$110.8 billion (2008 est.)

$57.49 billion (2010 est.)

1.5% (2010 est.)

1.4% (2009 est.)

4.1% (2008 est.)

$9,900 (2010 est.)

$9,800 (2009 est.)

$9,700 (2008 est.)

5.164 million

2% (2010 est.)

1.7% (2009 est.)

NA%

10.5% of GDP (2010 est.)

34.4% of GDP (2010 est.)

34.7% of GDP (2009 est.)

0.7% (2010 est.)

-0.5% (2009 est.)

NA%

NA%

$11.57 billion (31 December 2010 est)

$11.74 billion (31 December 2009 est)

$35.92 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$35.61 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$NA

sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans; livestock

sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals

0.8% (2010 est.)

16.89 billion kWh (2007 est.)

13.93 billion kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

48,340 bbl/day (2009 est.)

169,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

104,800 bbl/day (2007 est.)

178.9 million bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

400 million cu m (2008 est.)

400 million cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

70.79 billion cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

-$87 million (2010 est.)

$539 million (2009 est.)

$3.311 billion (2010 est.)

$2.879 billion (2009 est.)

sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee

China 25.68%, Canada 20.31%, Spain 6.79%, Netherlands 4.53% (2009)

$10.25 billion (2010 est.)

$8.91 billion (2009 est.)

petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals

Venezuela 30.51%, China 15.48%, Spain 8.3%, US 6.87% (2009)

$4.847 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$4.647 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$19.75 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$19.42 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$NA (31 December 2009 est.)

$4.138 billion (2006 est.)

Cuban pesos (CUP) per US dollar - 0.9259 (2010), 0.9259 (2009), 0.9259 (2008), 0.9259 (2007), 0.9231 (2006)