umina industry because of increases in world metal prices. The
recovery has also been supported by growth in the manufacturing and tourism
sectors. In September 1988, Hurricane Gilbert inflicted severe damage on
crops and the electric power system, a sharp but temporary setback to the
economy. By October 1989 the economic recovery from the hurricane was
largely complete, and real growth was up about 3% for 1989. In 1991,
however, growth dropped to 1.0% as a result of the US recession, lower world
bauxite prices, and monetary instability.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $3.6 billion, per capita $1,400; real growth rate
1.0% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
80% (1991 projected)
Unemployment rate:
15.1% (1991)
Budget:
revenues $600 million; expenditures $736 million (FY91 est.)
Exports:
$1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1991, projected)
commodities:
bauxite, alumina, sugar, bananas
partners:
US 36%, UK, Canada, Norway, Trinidad and Tobago
Imports:
$1.8 billion (c.i.f., 1991 projected)
commodities:
petroleum, machinery, food, consumer goods, construction goods
partners:
US 48%, UK, Venezuela, Canada, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago
External debt:
$3.8 billion (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate - 2.0% (1990); accounts for almost 25% of GDP
Electricity:
1,122,000 kW capacity; 2,520 million kWh produced, 1,012 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
tourism, bauxite mining, textiles, food processing, light manufactures
Agriculture:
accounts for about 9% of GDP, 22% of work force, and 17% of exports;
commercial crops - sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, and
vegetables; live-stock and livestock products include poultry, goats, milk;
not self-sufficient in grain, meat, and dairy products
Illicit drugs:
illicit cultivation of cannabis; transshipment point for cocaine from
Central and South America to North America; government has an active
cannabis eradication program
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.2 billion; other countries,
ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.6 billion
Currency:
Jamaican dollar (plural - dollars); 1 Jamaican dollar (J$) = 100 cents

:Jamaica Economy

Exchange rates:
Jamaican dollars (J$) per US$1 - 21.946 (January 1992), 12.116 (1991), 7.184
(1990), 5.7446 (1989), 5.4886 (1988), 5.4867 (1987),