Economy Overview
The Bahamas is one of the wealthiest Caribbean countries with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism together with tourism-driven construction and manufacturing accounts for approximately 60% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs half of the archipelago's labor force. Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences had led to solid GDP growth in recent years, but tourist arrivals have been on the decline since 2006. Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy and, when combined with business services, account for about 36% of GDP. However, since December 2000, when the government enacted new regulations on the financial sector, many international businesses have left The Bahamas. Manufacturing and agriculture combined contribute approximately a tenth of GDP and show little growth, despite government incentives aimed at those sectors. Overall growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector. Tourism, in turn, depends on growth in the US, the source of more than 80% of the visitors.
Agriculture Products
citrus, vegetables; poultry
Industries
tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe
Industrial Production Growth Rate
NA%
Labor Force
181,900 (2006)
Electricity production
2.05 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity Consumption
1.793 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity Exports
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity Imports
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Unemployment Rate
7.6% (2006 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: NA%
Highest 10%: 27% (2000)
Budget
Revenues: $1.03 billion
Expenditures: $1.03 billion (FY04/05)
Central Bank Discount Rate
5.25% (31 December 2007)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Domestic Credit
$7.395 billion (31 December 2007)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$NA
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
Debt External
$342.6 million (2004 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
Exchange Rates
Bahamian dollars (BSD) per US dollar - 1 (2007), 1 (2006), 1 (2005), 1 (2004), 1 (2003)
