Economy - overview: Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, is banking on expanded trade privileges under the Enhanced Caribbean Basin Initiative and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. While reconstruction from 1998's Hurricane Mitch is at an advanced stage, and the country has met most of its macroeconomic targets, it failed to meet the IMF's goals to liberalize its energy and telecommunications sectors. Economic growth has rebounded nicely since the hurricane and should continue in 2001.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $17 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,700 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 16.2%
industry: 31.9%
services: 51.9% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: 53% (1993 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 42.1% (1996)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 2.3 million (1997 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 29%, industry 21%, services 50% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: 28% (2000 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $607 million
expenditures: $411.9 million, including capital expenditures of $106 million (1999 est.)

Industries: sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products

Industrial production growth rate: 4% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 3.319 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 44.71%
hydro: 55.29%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 3.232 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 145 million kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp

Exports: $2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: coffee, bananas, shrimp, lobster, meat; zinc, lumber

Exports - partners: US 35.4%, Germany 7.5%, El Salvador 6.4%, Guatemala 5.8%, Nicaragua 4.8% (1999)

Imports: $2.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs

Imports - partners: US 47.1%, Guatemala 7.4%, El Salvador 5.9%, Mexico 4.8%, Japan 4.7% (1999)

Debt - external: $5.4 billion (2000)

Economic aid - recipient: $557.8 million (1999)

Currency: lempira (HNL)

Currency code: HNL

Exchange rates: lempiras per US dollar - 15.1407 (December 2000), 15.1407 (2000), 14.5039 (1999), 13.8076 (1998), 13.0942 (1997), 12.8694 (1996)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Honduras on this page is re-published from the 2001 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Honduras Economy 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Honduras Economy 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.