Trinidad and Tobago Economy 2001

Economy - overview: Trinidad and Tobago has earned a reputation as an excellent investment site for international businesses. Successful economic reforms were implemented in 1995, and foreign investment and trade are flourishing. Persistently high unemployment remains one of the chief challenges of the government. The petrochemical sector has spurred growth in other related sectors, reinforcing the government's commitment to economic diversification. Tourism is growing, especially in the pleasure boat sector. New investment and construction also will continue to drive the economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $11.2 billion (2000 est.)

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

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $9,500 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 2%
industry: 44%
services: 54% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: 21% (1992 est.)

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.2% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 558,700 (1998)

Labor force - by occupation: construction and utilities 12.4%, manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14%, agriculture 9.5%, services 64.1% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 12.8% (2000)

Budget:
revenues: $1.54 billion
expenditures: $1.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $117.3 million (1998)

Industries: petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles

Industrial production growth rate: 3.8% (2000)

Electricity - production: 4.9 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 99.59%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0.41% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 4.557 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: cocoa, sugarcane, rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry

Exports: $3.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, steel products, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers

Exports - partners: US 39.3%, Caricom countries 26.1%, Latin America 9.5%, EU 5.7% (1999)

Imports: $3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live animals

Imports - partners: US 39.8%, Venezuela 11.9%, EU 11%, Caricom 4.8% (1999)

Debt - external: $2.8 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $121.4 million (1995)

Currency: Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD)

Currency code: TTD

Exchange rates: Trinidad and Tobago dollars per US dollar - 6.2688 (January 2001), 6.2998 (2000), 6.2989 (1999), 6.2983 (1998), 6.2517 (1997), 6.0051 (1996)

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September

NOTE: The information regarding Trinidad and Tobago 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 Trinidad and Tobago Economy 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Trinidad and Tobago Economy 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.