Rank of Jamaica from the poorest is 109 and from the richest is 94 with gdp per capita using atlas method in 2003 is 2,760 $. In other methods such as IMF,WB and CIA using nominal method in 2007,2007, and 2008IMF..............................................WB..........................................CIA
rank/measure..............................rank/measure.............................rank/measure
83/4,195.....................................75/4,012...............................86/4,029
Jamaica has natural resources, primarily bauxite, and an ideal climate conducive for agriculture and also tourism. The discovery of bauxite in the 1940s and the subsequent establishment of the bauxite-alumina industry shifted Jamaica's economy from sugar and bananas. By the 1970s, Jamaica had emerged as a world leader in export of these minerals as foreign investment increased.
The country faces some serious problems but has the potential for growth and modernization. The Jamaican economy suffered its fourth consecutive year of negative growth (0.4%) in 1999. All sectors excepting bauxite/alumina, energy, and tourism shrank in 1998 and 1999. In 2000, Jamaica experienced its first year of positive growth since 1995. Nominal economic growth has continued to the upside approximately in line with US growth since. This is the result of the government's continued tight macroeconomic policies, which have been largely successful. Inflation fell from 25% in 1995 to single digits in 2000, reaching a multidecade low of 4.3% in 2004. Through periodic intervention in the market, the central bank also has prevented any abrupt drop in the exchange rate. However, the Jamaican dollar has been slipping, despite intervention, resulting in an average exchange rate of J$73.40 per US$1.00 and J136.2 per €1.00 (February 2011). In addition, inflation has been trending upward since 2004 and is projected to once again reach a double digit rate of 12-13% through the year 2008 due to a combination of unfavorable weather damaging crops and increasing agricultural imports and high energy prices.
Weakness in the financial sector, speculation, and lower levels of investment erode confidence in the productive sector. The government continues its efforts to raise new sovereign debt in local and international financial markets in order to meet its U.S. dollar debt obligations, to mop up liquidity to maintain the exchange rate and to help fund the current budget deficit.
Jamaican Government economic policies encourage foreign investment in areas that earn or save foreign exchange, generate employment, and use local raw materials. The government provides a wide range of incentives to investors, including remittance facilities to assist them in repatriating funds to the country of origin; tax holidays which defer taxes for a period of years; and duty-free access for machinery and raw materials imported for approved enterprises. Free trade zones have stimulated investment in garment assembly, light manufacturing, and data entry by foreign firms. However, over the last 5 years, the garment industry has suffered from reduced export earnings, continued factory closures, and rising unemployment. This may be attributed to intense competition, absence of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) parity, drug contamination delaying deliveries, and the high cost of operation, including security costs. The Government of Jamaica hopes to encourage economic activity through a combination of privatization, financial sector restructuring, reduced interest rates, and by boosting tourism and related productive activities.
GDP: purchasing power parity - US$24.58 billion (2011 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.5% (2011 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - US$9,000 (2011 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5.8%
industry: 29.5%
services: 64.7% (2011 est.)
Population below poverty line: 16.5% (2009 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 35.8% (2004)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.4% (2011 est.)
Labor force: 1.32 million (2011)
Labor force - by occupation: services 64%, agriculture 17%, industry 19% (2006)
Unemployment rate: 12.7% (2011 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $3.982 billion
expenditures: $4.744 billion(2011 est.)
Industries: tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications.
Industrial production growth rate: -2% (2010 est.)
Electricity - production: 7.323 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 92.7%
hydro: 2.21%
nuclear: 0%
other: 5.09% (1998)
Electricity - consumption: 6.4 billion kWh (2008)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2009)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2009)
Agriculture - products: sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk, shellfish
Exports: $1.65 billion (2011 est.)
Exports - commodities: alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, beverages, chemicals
Exports - partners: United States 34%, Canada 15.8%, Norway 9.4%, United Kingdom 6.6%, Netherlands 6.1% (2010)
Imports: $6.356 billion (2011 est.)
Imports - commodities: food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials
Imports - partners: United States 32.6%, Venezuela 15%, Trinidad & Tobago 14.5%, China 4.6% (2010)
Debt - external: $13.83 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Currency: 1 Jamaican dollar (J$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Jamaican dollars (J$) per US$1 – 97.66 (2013 est.), 80.83 (January 2009), 70.0 (December 2007), 62.5 (September 2005), 45.7 (June 2001), 41.139 (December 1999), 9.044 (1999), 36.550 (1998), 35.404 (1997), 37.120 (1996)
Fiscal year: 1 April–31 March.
