Economy - overview The economy depends on agriculture, tourism, light industry, and services. It also depends on France for large subsidies and imports. Tourism is a key industry, with most tourists from the US; an increasingly large number of cruise ships visit the islands. The traditional sugarcane crop is slowly being replaced by other crops, such as bananas (which now supply about 50% of export earnings), eggplant, and flowers. Other vegetables and root crops are cultivated for local consumption, although Guadeloupe is still dependent on imported food, mainly from France. Light industry features sugar and rum production. Most manufactured goods and fuel are imported. Unemployment is especially high among the young. Hurricanes periodically devastate the economy.

GDP purchasing power parity - $3.7 billion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate NA%

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $9,000 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 15%
industry: 17%
services: 68% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) NA%

Labor force 125,900 (1997)

Labor force - by occupation NA

Unemployment rate 27.8% (1998)

Budget
revenues: $225 million
expenditures: $390 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996)

Industries construction, cement, rum, sugar, tourism

Industrial production growth rate NA%

Electricity - production 1.39 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption 1.293 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products bananas, sugarcane, tropical fruits and vegetables; cattle, pigs, goats

Exports $140 million (f.o.b., 1997)

Exports - commodities bananas, sugar, rum

Exports - partners France 60%, Martinique 18%, US 4% (1997)

Imports $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1997)

Imports - commodities foodstuffs, fuels, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods, construction materials

Imports - partners France 63%, Germany 4%, US 3%, Japan 2%, Netherlands Antilles 2% (1997)

Debt - external $NA

Economic aid - recipient $NA; note - substantial annual French subsidies

Currency euro (EUR); French franc (FRF)

Currency code EUR; FRF

Exchange rates Euros per US dollar - 1.1324 (January 2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Guadeloupe on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guadeloupe Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Guadeloupe Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.