| Economy - overview: Puerto Rico has one of the most dynamic
economies in the Caribbean region. A diverse industrial sector has
surpassed agriculture as the primary locus of economic activity and
income. Encouraged by duty-free access to the US and by tax incentives, US
firms have invested heavily in Puerto Rico since the 1950s. US minimum
wage laws apply. Sugar production has lost out to dairy production and
other livestock products as the main source of income in the agricultural
sector. Tourism has traditionally been an important source of income, with
estimated arrivals of nearly 5 million tourists in 1999. Prospects for
2001 are clouded by a probable slowing down in both the construction and
tourist sectors and by increasing inflation, particularly in energy and
food prices; estimated growth will be 2%.
GDP: purchasing power
parity - $39 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.2% (1999 est.), 2.8% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $10,000 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1%
industry: 45%
services: 54% (1999 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.2% (1999 est.), 5.7% (2000
est.)
Labor force: 1.3 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 3%, industry 20%,
services 77% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9.5% (2000)
Budget:
revenues: $6.7 billion
expenditures: $9.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00)
Industries: pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, food products; tourism
Electricity - production: 16.76 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 98.45%
hydro: 1.55%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 15.587 billion kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products: sugarcane, coffee, pineapples, plantains, bananas;
livestock products, chickens
Exports: $34.9 billion (f.o.b., 1999), $38.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities: pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel,
canned tuna, rum, beverage concentrates, medical equipment
Exports - partners: US 88% (2000)
Imports: $25.3 billion (c.i.f., 1999), $27 billion (c.i.f., 2000)
Imports - commodities: chemicals, machinery and equipment,
clothing, food, fish, petroleum products
Imports - partners: US 60% (2000)
Currency: 1 US dollar (US$)
SOURCE: The World Factbook |