Jamaica Economy
About one fourth of the people depend upon agriculture for a living. Half the cultivated area iscontrolled by about 1,000 large estates, while the other half is divided into 185,000 small farms. The larger farms mainly produce sugarcane, citrus fruits, coffee, bananas, pimentos, and cattle--often for export. The small farms grow a variety of crops and raise goats and pigs for subsistence and for local markets.
Jamaica depends on tourism. A string of beautiful resorts extends all along the north coast.Montego Bay and Ocho Rios are towns with many large hotels, but there are also simpler types of accommodations set in small coves and secluded bay areas. Among the popular attractions are water sports and game fishing.
Five international aluminum companies mine deposits of bauxite on the central limestone plateaus; three of them also process the ore into alumina. The aluminum industry causes environmental pollution, but it is also vital to the national economy. Among the top five producers of bauxite and alumina in the world, Jamaica derives essential foreign exchange from the industry. Workers in the bauxite industry are among the highest paid in the country.
The Kingston metropolitan area dominates the country commercially and industrially. SpanishTown (the capital from 1534 to 1872), May Pen, and Mandeville are smaller industrial and commercial centers. Jamaica has a good road network. Public transport is mainly by minibus. Air Jamaica links the country with other Caribbean islands, the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Specific Economic Numbers
Overview
Key sectors in this island economy are bauxite (alumina and bauxite account for more than half ofexports) and tourism. The government's tight fiscal and monetary policies, which have been partially successful in curbing inflation, have held growth to 1.2% in 1993 and 2.0% in 1994.
The macroeconomic stabilisation programme introduced in 1991, which focused on tight fiscal and monetary policies, has contributed to a controlled reduction in the rate of inflation. The annual inflation rate decreased from a high of 80.2% in 1991 to 7.9% in 1998. Inflation for FY1998/99 was 6.2% compared to 7.2% in the corresponding period in CUU1997/98. The Government of Jamaica remains committed to lowering inflation, with a long-term objective of bringing it in line with that of its major trading partners.
After a period of steady growth from 1985 to 1995, real GDP decreased by 1.8% and 2.4% in 1996 and 1997, respectively. The decrease in GDP in 1996 and 1997 was largely due to significant problems in the financial sector and, in 1997, a severe island-wide drought (the worst in 70 years) that drastically reduced agricultural production. In 1997, nominal GDP was approximately J$220,556.2 million (US$6,198.9 million based on the average annual exchange rate of the period).
Since the first quarter of 2006, the economy of Jamaica has undergone a period of staunch growth. With inflation for the 2006 calendar year down to 6.0% and unemployment down to 8.9%, the nominal GDP grew by an unprecedented 2.9%. An investment programme in island transportation and utility infrastructure and gains in the tourism, mining, and service sectors all contributed this figure. All projections for 2007 show an even higher potential for economic growth with all estimates over 3.0% and hampered only by urban crime and public policies.
In 2006, Jamaica became part of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) as one of the pioneering members.
The global economic downturn had a significant impact on the Jamaican economy for the years 2007 to 2009, resulting in negative economic growth. The government implemented a new Debt Management Initiative, the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX) on January 14, 2010. The initiative would see holders of Government of Jamaica (GOJ) bonds returning the high interest earning instruments for bonds with lower yields and longer maturities.The offer was taken up by over 95% of local financial institutions and was deemed a success by the government. Owing to the success of the JDX program, the Bruce Golding-led government was successful in entering into a borrowing arrangement with the IMF on Ferbruary 4,2010 for the amount of US$1.27b. The loan agreement is for a period of three years.
| National product | GDP - purchasing power parity - $7.8 billion (1994 est.) |
| National product real growth rate | 2% (1994 est.) |
| National product per capita | $3,050 (1994 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 26.7% (1994) |
| Unemployment rate | 15.7% (1992) |
| Budget revenues | $600 million |
| Expenditures | $736 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY90/91 est.) |
| Exports | $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.) |
| Commodities | alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum |
| Partners | US 47%, UK 11%, Canada 9%, Norway 7%; France 4% (1993) |
| Imports | $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.) |
| Commodities | machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals |
| Partners | US 54%, Japan 4.0%, Mexico 6%, UK 4%, Venezuela 3% (1993) |
| External debt | $3.6 billion (1994 est.) |
| Industrial production | growth rate 0.4% (1992); accounts for almost 30% of GDP |
| Electricity | capacity 730,000 kW |
| production 2.6 billion kWh | |
| consumption per capita 988 kWh (1993) | |
| Industries | bauxite mining, tourism, textiles, food processing, light manufactures |
| Agriculture | accounts for about 7% of GDP, 22% of work force, and 17% of exports |
| Commercial crops | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; livestock and livestock products include poultry, goats, milk; not self-sufficient in grain, meat, and dairy products |
| Illicit drugs | Transshipment point for cocaine from Central and South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of cannabis; government has an active cannabis eradication program |
| Economic aid | recipient US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.2 billion; other countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.6 billion |
| Currency | 1 Jamaican dollar (J$) = 100 cents |
| Exchange rates | see Jamaican Exchange Rates for current rates |
| Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March |
Defense:
| Branches |
Jamaica Defense Force (includes Ground Forces, Coast Guard and Air Wing), Jamaica Constabulary |
| Force |
Manpower availability males age 15-49 670,958; males fit for military service 475,235; males reach military age (18) annually 26,244 (1995 est.) |
| Defense expenditures |
exchange rate conversion -USD 80,300,000, 0.6% of GDP (Military expenditure, 2010). The Military expenditure (% of central government expenditure) in Jamaica was reported at 1.65 in 2008, according to the World Bank. |
For most recent Specific Economic Numbers of Jamaica, visit: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jm.html