Haiti Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
In this poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, 80% of the population lives in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming. Following legislative elections in May 2000, fraught with irregularities, international donors - including the US and EU - suspended almost all aid to Haiti. The economy shrank an estimated 1.2% in 2001 and an estimated 0.9% in 2002. Suspended aid and loan disbursements totaled more than $500 million at the start of 2003. Haiti also suffers from rampant inflation, a lack of investment, and a severe trade deficit. The resumption of aid flows from all donors will alleviate but not end the nation's bitter economic problems. Extensive civil strife in early 2004, marked by the flight of President ARISTIDE, further impoverished Haiti.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $12.18 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
-1% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,600 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 30%
industry: 20%
services: 50% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line:
80% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
37.3% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
3.6 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (2003)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 66%, services 25%, industry 9%

Unemployment rate:
widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs (2002 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $273 million
expenditures: $361 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.)

Industries:
sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement, light assembly industries based on imported parts

Industrial production growth rate:
NA

Electricity - production:
580 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 60.3%
hydro: 39.7%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
539.4 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
11,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Agriculture - products:
coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum, wood

Exports:
$321 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
manufactures, coffee, oils, cocoa

Exports - partners:
US 84.5%, Dominican Republic 6.7%, Canada 2.5% (2002)

Imports:
$1.028 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
food, manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, raw materials

Imports - partners:
US 52.5%, Dominican Republic 5.2%, Colombia 3.4% (2002)

Debt - external:
$1.2 billion (1999)

Economic aid - recipient:
$120 million (FY02)

Currency:
gourde (HTG)

Currency code:
HTG

Exchange rates:
gourdes per US dollar - 40.5 (2003), 29.25 (2002), 24.43 (2001), 21.17 (2000), 16.94 (1999)