The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for more than 60% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. Remittances account for nearly 20% of GDP and are equivalent to tourism revenues. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, will suffer an economic setback from damages caused by Hurricane Dean in August 2007. The economy faces serious long-term problems: high but declining interest rates, increased foreign competition, exchange rate instability, a sizable merchandise trade deficit, large-scale unemployment and underemployment, and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 135%. Jamaica's onerous debt burden - the fourth highest per capita - is the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Inflation also has declined, standing at about 7% at the end of 2007. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence that is fueled by the drug trade. The GOLDING administration faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a serious and growing crime problem that is hampering economic growth.

GDP (purchasing power parity):$20.67 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):$11.21 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:1.4% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):$7,700 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:agriculture: 5.1% industry: 32.7% services: 62.2% (2007 est.)

Labor force:1.255 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:agriculture: 17% industry: 19% services: 64% (2006)

Unemployment rate:9.9% (2007 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):9.3% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):34.2% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:revenues: $3.707 billion expenditures: $4.251 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:127.2% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks

Industries:tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunicationsIndustrial production growth rate:1.2% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:6.985 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:6.131 billion kWh (2005)

Oil - consumption:72,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - imports:71,420 bbl/day (2004)

Exports:$2.331 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels

Exports - partners:US 30.2%, Canada 15.6%, China 15.2%, UK 10.3%, Netherlands 7%, Norway 4.6% (2006)

Imports:$5.784 billion f.o.b. (2007 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:US 39.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.6%, Venezuela 9.5% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:$35.74 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:$1.905 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:$9.657 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Currency (code):Jamaican dollar (JMD)

Exchange rates:Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 69.034 (2007), 65.768 (2006), 62.51 (2005), 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003)

Fiscal year:1 April - 31 March