economic diversification. Tourism is a
major foreign exchange earner, with 260,000 arrivals in 1995, 80%
from Europe.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$8.85 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 4.3% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$8,000 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 2.2%
industry: 44%
services: 53.8% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: 21% (1992 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.7% (1997)

Labor force: 541,000 (1997 est.)

Labor force--by occupation: construction and utilities 12.4%,
manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14%, agriculture 9.5%, services
64.1% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 14% (June 1998)

Budget:
revenues: $1.59 billion
expenditures: $1.54 billion, including capital expenditures of
$165.8 million (1997)

Industries: petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing,
cement, beverage, cotton textiles

Industrial production growth rate: 7.5% (1995)

Electricity--production: 4 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 4 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: cocoa, sugarcane, rice, citrus, coffee,
vegetables; poultry

Exports: $2.4 billion (f.o.b., 1997)

Exports--commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals,
steel products, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers

Exports--partners: US 39.7%, Caricom countries 24.5%, Latin
America 10.3%, EU 8.2% (1997)

Imports: $3.3 billion (c.i.f., 1997)

Imports--commodities: machinery, transportation equipment,
manufactured goods, food, live animals

Imports--partners: US 52.2%, Latin America 16.5%, EU 13.8%, Japan
3.6% (1997)

Debt--external: $2.8 billion (1997 est.)

Economic aid--recipient: $121.4 million (1995)

Currency: 1 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TT$) per US$1--6.2761
(January 1999), 6.2840 (1998), 6.2517 (1997), 6.0051 (1996), 5.9478
(1995), 5.9249 (1994)

Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September

Communications

Telephones: 170,000 (1992 est.)

Telephone system: excellent international service; good local
service
domestic: NA
international: sa