Jamaica/

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. Remittances account for nearly 15% of GDP and exports of bauxite and alumina make up about 10%. Tourism revenues account for roughly 10% of GDP, and both arrivals and revenues grew in 2010, up 4% and 6% respectively. The Economic growth faces many challenges: high crime and corruption, large-scale unemployment and underemployment, and a debt-to-GDP ratio of more than 120%. Jamaica’s onerous debt burden - the fourth highest per capita - is the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably to the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. The Government of Jamaica signed a $1.27 billion, 27-month Standby Agreement with the International Monetary Fund for balance of payment support in February 2010. Other multilaterals have also provided millions of dollars in loans and grants. The government’s difficult fiscal position hinders spending on infrastructure and social programs, particularly as job losses rise in a shrinking economy. The GOLDING administration 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. High unemployment exacerbates the crime problem, including gang violence that is fueled by the drug trade.

$23.93 billion (2010 est.)

$24.12 billion (2009 est.)

$24.81 billion (2008 est.)

$13.74 billion (2010 est.)

-0.8% (2010 est.)

-2.8% (2009 est.)

-0.9% (2008 est.)

$8,400 (2010 est.)

$8,500 (2009 est.)

$8,800 (2008 est.)

1.317 million (2010 est.)

12.9% (2010 est.)

11.4% (2009 est.)

14.8% (2003 est.)

45.5 (2004)

37.9 (2000)

25.1% of GDP (2010 est.)

123.2% of GDP (2010 est.)

124.4% of GDP (2009 est.)

13% (2010 est.)

9.6% (2009 est.)

NA% (31 December 2009)

NA% (31 December 2008)

16.43% (31 December 2009 est.)

16.83% (31 December 2008 est.)

$1.432 billion (31 December 2010 est)

$1.371 billion (31 December 2009 est)

$5.782 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$5.472 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$7.922 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$7.282 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$6.201 billion (31 December 2009)

$7.513 billion (31 December 2008)

$12.33 billion (31 December 2007)

sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks

tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications

-2% (2010 est.)

7.324 billion kWh (2007 est.)

6.345 billion kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

77,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

77,720 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

-$1.382 billion (2010 est.)

-$876 million (2009 est.)

$1.487 billion (2010 est.)

$1.263 billion (2009 est.)

alumina, bauxite, sugar, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels

US 38.19%, Canada 12.2%, UK 10.79%, Norway 4.89%, Netherlands 4.69% (2009)

$5.378 billion (2010 est.)

$4.581 billion (2009 est.)

food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials

US 28.32%, Trinidad and Tobago 22.98%, Venezuela 12.14%, China 4.61%, Brazil 4.18% (2009)

$1.85 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.081 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$12.66 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$10.56 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Jamaican dollars (JMD) per US dollar - 87.41 (2010), 87.894 (2009), 72.236 (2008), 69.034 (2007), 65.768 (2006)