economic activity. Thus, Cuba, like the former Warsaw Pact nations, has
remained in the backwater of economic modernization. The economy contracted
by about one-third between 1989 and 1992 as it absorbed the loss of $4
billion of annual economic aid from the former Soviet Union and much smaller
amounts from Eastern Europe. The government implemented numerous energy
conservation measures and import substitution schemes to cope with a large
decline in imports. To reduce fuel consumption, Havana has cut back bus
service and imported approximately 1 million bicycles from China,
domesticated nearly 200,000 oxen to replace tractors, and halted a large
amount of industrial production. The government has prioritized domestic
food production and promoted herbal medicines since 1990 to compensate for
lower imports. Havana also has been shifting its trade away from the former
Soviet republics and Eastern Europe toward the industrialized countries of
Latin America and the OECD.
National product:
GNP - exchange rate conversion - $14.9 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
-15% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$1,370 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA%
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $12.46 billion; expenditures $14.45 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)
Exports:
$2.1 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities:
sugar, nickel, shellfish, tobacco, medical products, citrus, coffee
partners:
Russia 30%, Canada 10%, China 9%, Japan 6%, Spain 4% (1992 est.)
Imports:
$2.2 billion (c.i.f., 1992 est.)
commodities:
petroleum, food, machinery, chemicals
partners:
Russia 10%, China 9%, Spain 9%, Mexico 5%, Italy 5%, Canada 4%, France 4%
(1992 est.)
External debt:
$6.8 billion (convertible currency, July 1989)
Industrial production:
NA
Electricity:
3,889,000 kW capacity; 16,248 million kWh produced, 1,500 kWh per capita
(1992)
Industries:
sugar milling and refining, petroleum refining, food and tobacco processing,
textiles, chemicals, paper and wood products, metals (particularly nickel),
cement, fertilizers, consumer goods, agricultural machinery

*Cuba, Economy

Agriculture:
accounts for 11% of GNP (including fishing and forestry); key commercial
crops - sugarcane, tobacco, and citrus fruits; other products - coffee,
rice, potatoes, meat, beans; world's largest sugar exporter; not