Economy - overview:
The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which accounts for nearly 80% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. Remittances and tourism each account for 30% of GDP, while bauxite/alumina exports make up roughly 5% of GDP. The bauxite/alumina sector was most affected by the global downturn while the tourism industry and remittance flow remained resilient. Jamaica's economy faces many challenges to growth: high crime and corruption, large-scale unemployment and underemployment, and a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 140%. The attendant debt servicing cost consumes a large portion of the government's budget, limiting its ability to fund the critical infrastructure and social programs required to drive growth. Jamaica's economic growth rate in the recent past has been stagnant, averaging less than 1% per year for over 20 years. Jamaica's onerous public debt burden is largely the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably to the financial sector. In early 2010, the Jamaican Government initiated the Jamaica Debt Exchange to retire high-priced domestic bonds and reduce annual debt servicing. Despite these efforts, debt continued to be a serious concern, forcing the government to negotiate and sign a new IMF agreement in May 2013 to gain access to approximately $1 billion additional funds. As a precursor, the government instigated a second National Debt Exchange in 2012. The IMF deal requires the government to reform its tax system, eliminate discretionary tax exemptions and waivers, and achieve an annual surplus of 7.5%, excluding debt payments, to reduce its debt below 100% of GDP by 2020. The SIMPSON-MILLER administration now faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a serious crime problem that is hampering economic growth. High unemployment exacerbates the crime problem, including gang violence that is fueled by the drug trade. The IMF approved a four-year $932 million Extended Fund Facility arrangement for Jamaica in May 2013.
GDP (purchasing power parity): GDP (official exchange rate): GDP - real growth rate: GDP - per capita: Gross national saving: GDP - composition, by end use:
GDP - composition, by sector of origin:
Agriculture - products: Industries: Industrial production growth rate: Labor force: Labor force - by occupation:
Unemployment rate: Population below poverty line: Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Distribution of family income - Gini index: Budget:
Taxes and other revenues: Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-): Public debt: Fiscal year: Inflation rate (consumer prices): Central bank discount rate: Commercial bank prime lending rate: Stock of narrow money: Stock of broad money: Stock of domestic credit: Market value of publicly traded shares: Current account balance: Exports: Exports - commodities: Exports - partners: Imports: Imports - commodities: Imports - partners: Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: Debt - external: Exchange rates:
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Jamaica on this page is re-published from the 2015 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Jamaica Economy 2015 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Jamaica Economy 2015 should be addressed to the CIA.
$25.13 billion (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 126
note:
data are in 2013 US dollars
[see also: GDP country ranks ]
$14.39 billion (2013 est.)
[see also: GDP (official exchange rate) country ranks ]
0.4% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 190
[see also: GDP - real growth rate country ranks ]
$9,000 (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 126
note:
data are in 2013 US dollars
[see also: GDP - per capita country ranks ]
10.8% of GDP (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 130
[see also: Gross national saving country ranks ]
household consumption:
86.6%
government consumption:
15.7%
investment in fixed capital:
21.2%
investment in inventories:
0.5%
exports of goods and services:
34.5%
imports of goods and services:
-58.4%
agriculture:
6.5%
industry:
29.4%
services:
64.1% (2013 est.)
sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; shellfish
tourism, bauxite/alumina, agricultural-processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications
1.5% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 137
[see also: Industrial production growth rate country ranks ]
1.261 million (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 138
[see also: Labor force country ranks ]
agriculture:
17%
industry:
19%
services:
64% (2006)
16.3% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 146
[see also: Unemployment rate country ranks ]
16.5% (2009 est.)
[see also: Population below poverty line country ranks ]
lowest 10%:
2.1%
highest 10%:
35.8% (2004)
45.5 (2004)
country comparison to the world: 38
[see also: Distribution of family income - Gini index country ranks ]
revenues:
$3.826 billion
expenditures:
$4.088 billion (2013 est.)
26.6% of GDP (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 113
[see also: Taxes and other revenues country ranks ]
-1.8% of GDP (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 84
[see also: Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) country ranks ]
123.6% of GDP (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 8
[see also: Public debt country ranks ]
1 April - 31 March
9.4% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 207
[see also: Inflation rate (consumer prices) country ranks ]
2% (31 December 2010 est.)
[see also: Central bank discount rate country ranks ]
17% (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 24
[see also: Commercial bank prime lending rate country ranks ]
$1.671 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 132
[see also: Stock of narrow money country ranks ]
$5.928 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 125
[see also: Stock of broad money country ranks ]
$7.197 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 105
[see also: Stock of domestic credit country ranks ]
$6.39 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 74
[see also: Market value of publicly traded shares country ranks ]
-$1.583 billion (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 134
[see also: Current account balance country ranks ]
$1.775 billion (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 144
[see also: Exports country ranks ]
alumina, bauxite, sugar, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels
US 48%, Canada 7.2%, Slovenia 4.2%, Netherlands 4.1%, UAE 4.1% (2012)
$5.559 billion (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 124
[see also: Imports country ranks ]
food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials
US 36.1%, Venezuela 15.6%, Trinidad and Tobago 10.8%, China 4.8%, Mexico 4% (2012)
$1.9 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 123
[see also: Reserves of foreign exchange and gold country ranks ]
$13.82 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 93
[see also: Debt - external country ranks ]
Jamaican dollars (JMD) per US dollar -
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 10-Feb-15
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