Overview: Cuba's heavily statist economy remains in a severe depression as a result of the loss of massive amounts of economic aid from the former Soviet Bloc. In 1989-93, GDP declined by about 40% and import capability fell by about 80%. Reduced imports of fuel, spare parts, and chemicals combined with rainy weather to cut the production of sugar - the country's top export - from 7 million tons in 1992 to 4.3 million tons in 1993, causing a loss of more than $400 million in export revenue. The government implemented several measures designed to stem the economic decline, e.g., legalizing the use of foreign currency by Cuban citizens in August 1993 in an attempt to increase remittances of foreign exchange from abroad. Authorities in September 1993 began permitting self-employment in over 100 mostly service occupations. Also in September the government broke up many state farms into smaller, more autonomous cooperative units in an attempt to increase worker incentives and boost depressed food production levels. Fuel shortages persisted throughout 1993; draft animals and bicycles continued to replace motor-driven vehicles, and the use of electricity by households and factories was cut from already low levels. With the help of foreign investment, tourism has been one bright spot in the economy, with arrivals and earnings reaching record highs in 1993. Government officials have expressed guarded optimism for 1994, as the country struggles to achieve sustainable economic growth at a much-reduced standard of living.

National product: GNP - purchasing power equivalent - $13.7 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: -10% (1993 est.)

National product per capita: $1,250 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $12.46 billion
expenditures: $14.45 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)

Exports: $1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: sugar, nickel, shellfish, tobacco, medical products, citrus, coffee
partners: Russia 28%, Canada 9%, China 5%, Ukraine 5%, Japan 4%, Spain 4% (1993 est.)

Imports: $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities: petroleum, food, machinery, chemicals
partners: Venezuela 20%, China 9%, Spain 9%, Mexico 7%, Italy 4%, Canada 7%, France 8% (1993 est.)

External debt: $6.8 billion (convertible currency, July 1989)

Industrial production: growth rate NA%

Electricity:
capacity: 3,889,000 kW
production: 16.248 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 1,500 kWh (1992)

Industries: sugar milling and refining, petroleum refining, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, paper and wood products, metals (particularly nickel), cement, fertilizers, consumer goods, agricultural machinery

Agriculture: accounts for 11% of GNP (including fishing and forestry); key commercial crops - sugarcane, tobacco, and citrus fruits; other products - coffee, rice, potatoes, meat, beans; world's largest sugar exporter; not self-sufficient in food (excluding sugar); sector hurt by growing shortages of fuels and parts

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine bound for the US

Economic aid:
recipient: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $710 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $18.5 billion

Currency: 1 Cuban peso (Cu$) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: Cuban pesos (Cu$) per US$1 - 1.0000 (non-convertible, official rate, linked to the US dollar)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Cuba on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cuba Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cuba Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.