Martinique Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and light industry. Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GDP and the small industrial sector for 11%. Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to France. The bulk of meat, vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from France. Tourism, which employs more than 11,000 people, has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $6.117 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
NA%

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $14,400 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 6%
industry: 11%
services: 83% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.9% (1990)

Labor force:
165,900 (1998)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 10%, industry 17%, services 73% (1997)

Unemployment rate:
27.2% (1998)

Budget:
revenues: $900 million
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $140 million (1996)

Industries:
construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

Electricity - production:
1.151 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
1.07 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

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

Oil - consumption:
13,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Agriculture - products:
pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane

Exports:
$250 million f.o.b. (1997)

Exports - commodities:
refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples (2001 est.)

Exports - partners:
France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (2000)

Imports:
$2 billion c.i.f. (1997)

Imports - commodities:
petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods

Imports - partners:
France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, US 3% (2000)

Debt - external:
$180 million (1994)

Economic aid - recipient:
$NA; note - substantial annual aid from France (1998)

Currency:
euro (EUR)

Currency code:
EUR

Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.8860 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998)