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 and will likely drop even further in 2009. Tourism, in turn, depends on growth in the US, the source of more than 80% of the visitors. To help offset the effect of the global economic downturn, particularly on employment, the INGRAHAM administration plans to engage in infrastructure projects. 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.
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
175,500 (2007)country comparison to the world: 168
Electricity production
2.045 billion kWh (2007 est.)country comparison to the world: 134
Electricity Consumption
1.902 billion kWh (2007 est.)country comparison to the world: 135
Electricity Exports
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity Imports
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Unemployment Rate
7.6% (2006 est.)country comparison to the world: 99
Population Below Poverty Line
9.3% (2004)
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 2008)country comparison to the world: 81 5.25% (31 December 2007)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Domestic Credit
$7.883 billion (31 December 2008)country comparison to the world: 77 $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.)country comparison to the world: 171
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
Exchange Rates
Bahamian dollars (BSD) per US dollar - 1 (2008 est.), 1 (2007), 1 (2006), 1 (2005), 1 (2004)
