mailing address:
P. O. Box 302, Bridgetown; FPO AA 34055
telephone:
(809) 436-4950
FAX:
(809) 429-5246
Flag:
three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and blue with
the head of a black trident centered on the gold band; the trident
head represents independence and a break with the past (the colonial
coat of arms contained a complete trident)

@Barbados, Economy

Overview:
A per capita income of $8,700 gives Barbados one of the highest
standards of living of all the small island states of the eastern
Caribbean. Historically, the economy was based on the cultivation of
sugar cane and related activities. In recent years, however, the
economy has diversified into manufacturing and tourism. The tourist
industry is now a major employer of the labor force and a primary
source of foreign exchange. The economy slowed in 1990-92 as
Bridgetown's difficulty in financing its deficits caused it to exert
control over domestic demands
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $2.2 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
-3% (1992)
National product per capita:
$8,700 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6.1% (1992)
Unemployment rate:
23% (1992)
Budget:
revenues:
$547 million
expenditures:
$620 million, including capital expenditures of $60 million (FY92-93)
Exports:
$158 million (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals,
electrical components, clothing
partners:
US 13%, UK 13%, Trinidad and Tobago 9%, Windward Islands 7.8%
Imports:
$465 million (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel,
electrical components
partners:
US 33%, UK 11%, Trinidad and Tobago 11%, Japan 5%
External debt:
$652 million (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate -1.3% (1991); accounts for 10% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
152,100 kW
production:
540 million kWh
consumption per capita:
2,118 kWh (1992)
Industries:
tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export,
petroleum
Agriculture:
accounts for 6% of GDP; major cash crop is sugarcane; other crops -
vegetables, cotton; not self-sufficient in food
Economic aid:
recipient:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $15 million; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $171
million
Currency: