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. Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy and, when combined with business services, account for about 36% of GDP. Manufacturing and agriculture combined contribute less than a 10th of GDP and show little growth, despite government incentives aimed at those sectors. The economy of The Bahamas shrank at an average pace of 0.8% annually between 2007-11, and tourism, financial services, and construction - pillars of the national economy - remained weak. These challenges, coupled with a growing public debt, increases in government expenditures, a narrow revenue base, and heavy dependence on customs and property taxes have led to prospects of limited growth for The Bahamas.
Agriculture Products
citrus, vegetables, poultry
Industries
tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals
Industrial Production Growth Rate
NA%
Labor Force
192,200 (2012)country comparison to the world: 173
Unemployment Rate
14% (2012 est.)country comparison to the world: 138 14.2% (2009 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
9.3% (2004)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 1%
Highest 10%: 22% (2007 est.)
Budget
Revenues: $1.54 billion
Expenditures: $2.04 billion (2012 est.)
Central Bank Discount Rate
4.5% (31 December 2012 est.)country comparison to the world: 93 4% (31 December 2011 est.)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Narrow Money
$1.575 billion (31 December 2012 est.)country comparison to the world: 132 $1.435 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Broad Money
$6.482 billion (31 December 2012 est.)country comparison to the world: 120 $6.104 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Domestic Credit
$8.653 billion (31 December 2012 est.)country comparison to the world: 103 $8.511 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$2.78 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$846.9 million (31 December 2012 est.)country comparison to the world: 139 $1.07 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Debt External
$16.35 billion (31 December 2012 est.)country comparison to the world: 83 $15.13 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
Exchange Rates
Bahamian dollars (BSD) per US dollar -1 (2012 est.) 1 (2011 est.) 1 (2010 est.) 1 (2008 est.) 1 (2007 est.)
