Haiti/Economy

Economy - overview: About 80% of the population lives in abject poverty. Nearly 70% of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming and employs about two-thirds of the economically active work force. The country has experienced little job creation since President PREVAL took office in February 1996, although the informal economy is growing. Failure to reach agreements with international sponsors have denied Haiti badly needed budget and development assistance. Meeting aid conditions in 2000 will be especially challenging in the face of mounting popular criticism of reforms.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $9.2 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.4% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,340 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 32%
industry: 20%
services: 48% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: 80% (1998 est.)

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 3.6 million (1995)
note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (1998)

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

Unemployment rate: 70%; widespread underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs (1999)

Budget:
revenues: $323 million
expenditures: $363 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY97/98 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 0.6% (1997 est.)

Electricity - production: 728 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 55.63%
hydro: 41.62%
nuclear: 0%
other: 2.75% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 677 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)

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

Exports: $322 million (f.o.b., 1999)

Exports - commodities: manufactures, coffee, oils, mangoes

Exports - partners: US 86%, EU 11% (1998)

Imports: $762 million (c.i.f., 1999)

Imports - commodities: food, machinery and transport equipment, fuels

Imports - partners: US 60%, EU 12% (1998)

Debt - external: $1 billion (1997 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $730.6 million (1995)

Currency: 1 gourde (G) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: gourdes (G) per US$1 - 18.262 (January 2000), 17.965 (1999), 16.505 (1998), 17.311 (1997), 15.093 (1996), 16.160 (1995)

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September