Historically, the Barbadian economy had been
dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but
production in recent years has diversified into manufacturing and
tourism. The start of the Port Charles Marina project in Speightstown
helped the tourism industry continue to expand in 1996-99. Offshore
finance and informatics are important foreign exchange earners, and
there is also a light manufacturing sector. The government continues
its efforts to reduce the unacceptably high unemployment rate,
encourage direct foreign investment, and privatize remaining
state-owned enterprises.

purchasing power parity - $2.9 billion (1998 est.)

4.4% (1998 est.)

purchasing power parity - $11,200 (1998 est.)

agriculture: 4.9%
industry: 15.6%
services: 79.5% (1997)

NA%

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

1.7% (1998)

136,000 (1998 est.)

services 75%, industry 15%, agriculture
10% (1996 est.)

12% (1998 est.)

revenues: $725.5 million
expenditures: $750.6 million, including capital expenditures of $126.3
million (FY97/98 est.)

tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly
for export

0.8% (1996)

672 million kWh (1998)

fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

625 million kWh (1998)

0 kWh (1998)

0 kWh (1998)

sugarcane, vegetables, cotton

$211.2 million (1998)

sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and
beverages, chemicals, electrical components, clothing

UK 14.8%, US 11.6%, Trinidad and Tobago 7.6%,
Venezuela 6.1%, Jamaica 5.8% (1998)

$1.01 billion (1998)

consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs,
construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components

US 30.7%, Trinidad and Tobago 10.2%, Japan 8.3%,
UK 7.7%, Canada 2.2% (1998)

$550 million (1998 est.)

$9.1 million (1995)

1 Barbadian dollar (Bds$) = 100 cents

Barbadian dollars (Bds$) per US$1 - 2.0000 (fixed rate
pegged to the US dollar)

1 April - 31 March