Overview: Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Agriculture, the most important sector of the economy, accounts for more than 25% of GDP, employs 62% of the labor force, and produces two-thirds of exports. Productivity remains low. Industry, still in its early stages, employs nearly 9% of the labor force, accounts for 15% of GDP, and generates 20% of exports. The service sectors, including public administration, account for 50% of GDP and employ 20% of the labor force. Basic problems facing the economy include rapid population growth, high unemployment, a lack of basic services, a large and inefficient public sector, and the dependence of the export sector mostly on coffee and bananas, which are subject to sharp price fluctuations. A far-reaching reform program initiated by former President CALLEJAS in 1990 is beginning to take hold. In 1993 the large fiscal deficit emerged as a key economic problem, the result of improvident state spending.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $10 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: 3.7% (1993 est.)

National product per capita: $1,950 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 13% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: 10%; underemployed 30%-40% (1992)

Budget:
revenues: $1.4 billion
expenditures: $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $511 million (1990 est.)

Exports: $850 million (f.o.b., 1993 est)
commodities: bananas, coffee, shrimp, lobster, minerals, meat, lumber
partners: US 53%, Germany 11%, Belgium 8%, UK 5%

Imports: $1.1 billion (c.i.f. 1993 est)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemical products, manufactured goods, fuel and oil, foodstuffs
partners: US 50%, Mexico 8%, Guatemala 6%

External debt: $2.8 billion (1990)

Industrial production: growth rate 0.8% (1990 est.); accounts for 15% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 575,000 kW
production: 2 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 390 kWh (1992)

Industries: agricultural processing (sugar and coffee), textiles, clothing, wood products

Agriculture: most important sector, accounting for more than 25% of GDP, more than 60% of the labor force, and two-thirds of exports; principal products include bananas, coffee, timber, beef, citrus fruit, shrimp; importer of wheat

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine; illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and used principally for local consumption

Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.4 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.1 billion

Currency: 1 lempira (L) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: lempiras (L) per US$1 - 7.2600 (December 1993), 7.2600 (1993), 5.8300 (1992), 5.4000 (1991); 2.0000 (fixed rate until 1991) 5.70 parallel black-market rate (November 1990); the lempira was allowed to float in 1992

Fiscal year: calendar year

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