verview: Tourism and offshore finance are the mainstays of the
economy. The islands enjoy a high per capita income and a
well-developed infrastructure as compared with other countries in the
region. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with
Venezuela and the US being the major suppliers. Poor soils and
inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $1.85 billion (1993
est.)

National product real growth rate: 1.8% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $10,000 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (1994 est.)

Unemployment rate: 13.4% (1993 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $209 million
expenditures: $232 million, including capital expenditures of $8
million (1992 est.)

Exports: $240 million (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: petroleum products 98%
partners: US 39%, Brazil 9%, Colombia 6%

Imports: $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: crude petroleum 64%, food, manufactures
partners: Venezuela 26%, US 18%, Colombia 6%, Netherlands 6%, Japan 5%

External debt: $672 million (December 1991)

Industrial production: growth rate NA%

Electricity:
capacity: 200,000 kW
production: 810 million kWh
consumption per capita: 4,054 kWh (1993)

Industries: tourism (Curacao and Sint Maarten), petroleum refining
(Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire),
light manufacturing (Curacao)

Agriculture: chief products - aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables,
tropical fruit

Illicit drugs: money-laundering center; transshipment point for South
American cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe

Economic aid:
recipient: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1970-89), $513 million

Currency: 1 Netherlands Antillean guilder, gulden, or florin (NAf.) =
100 cents

Exchange rates: Netherlands Antillean guilders, gulden, or florins
(NAf.) per US$1 - 1.79 (fixed rate since 1989; 1.80 fixed rate
1971-88)

Fiscal year: calendar year

@Netherlands Antilles:Transportation

Railroads: 0 km

Highways:
total: 950 km
paved: 300 km
unpaved: gravel, earth 650 km

Ports: Kralendijk, Philipsburg, Willemstad

Merchant marine:
total: 110 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,044,553 GRT/1,343,842
DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 1, bulk 2, cargo 36, chemical tanker 6,
combination ore/oil 1, liquefied gas tanker 4, multifunction