Overview: About 75% of the population live in abject poverty. Agriculture is mainly small-scale subsistence farming and employs nearly three-fourths of the work force. The majority of the population does not have ready access to safe drinking water, adequate medical care, or sufficient food. Few social assistance programs exist, and the lack of employment opportunities remains one of the most critical problems facing the economy, along with soil erosion and political instability. Trade sanctions applied by the Organization of American States in response to the September 1991 coup against President ARISTIDE have further damaged the economy. Output continued to drop in 1993 although not as sharply as in 1992.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $5.2 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: -13% (FY92 est.)

National product per capita: $800 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 20% (FY92 est.)

Unemployment rate: 25%-50% (1991)

Budget:
revenues: $300 million
expenditures: $416 million, including capital expenditures of $145 million (1990 est.)

Exports: $135 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities: light manufactures 65%, coffee 19%, other agriculture 8%, other 8%
partners: US 84%, Italy 4%, France 3%, other industrial countries 6%, less developed countries 3% (1987)

Imports: $423 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities: machines and manufactures 34%, food and beverages 22%, petroleum products 14%, chemicals 10%, fats and oils 9%
partners: US 64%, Netherlands Antilles 5%, Japan 5%, France 4%, Canada 3%, Germany 3% (1987)

External debt: $838 million (December 1990)

Industrial production: growth rate -2% (1991 est.); accounts for 15% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 217,000 kW
production: 480 million kWh
consumption per capita: 75 kWh (1992)

Industries: sugar refining, textiles, flour milling, cement manufacturing, tourism, light assembly industries based on imported parts

Agriculture: accounts for 28% of GDP and employs around 70% of work force; mostly small-scale subsistence farms; commercial crops - coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, wood; staple crops - rice, corn, sorghum; shortage of wheat flour

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana en route to the US and Europe

Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-89), $700 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $770 million

Currency: 1 gourde (G) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: gourdes (G) per US$1 - 12.00 (1 July 1993), 8.4 (December 1991), fixed rate of 5.000 through second quarter of 1991

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September

NOTE: The information regarding Haiti 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 Haiti Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Haiti Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.