Overview: Trinidad and Tobago's petroleum-based economy still enjoys a high per capita income by Latin American standards, even though output and living standards are substantially below the boom years of 1973-82. The country suffers from widespread unemployment, large foreign-debt payments, and periods of low international oil prices. Seven successive years of economic contraction were followed by small gains in output in 1990-91 of 1.2% and 0.9%, in turn followed by small declines in 1992-93 of roughly 1.0%. The government has begun to make progress in its efforts to diversify exports.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $10.4 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: -1% (1993)

National product per capita: $8,000 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.5% (1993)

Unemployment rate: 18.5% (1991)

Budget:
revenues: $1.6 billion
expenditures: $1.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $158 million (1993 est.)

Exports: $1.4 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, steel products, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers
partners: US 47%, CARICOM 13%, Latin America 9%, EC 5% (1992)

Imports: $900 million (f.o.b. , 1993)
commodities: machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live animals (1992)
partners: US 41%, Venezuela 10%, UK 8%, other EC 8%

External debt: $2 billion (1993)

Industrial production: growth rate 2.3% (1991); accounts for 37% of GDP, including petroleum

Electricity:
capacity: 1,176,000 kW
production: 3.48 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 2,680 kWh (1992)

Industries: petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles

Agriculture: accounts for 3% of GDP; highly subsidized sector; major crops - cocoa, sugarcane; sugarcane acreage is being shifted into rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry sector most important source of animal protein; must import large share of food needs

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe

Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $373 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $518 million

Currency: 1 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TT$) per US$1 - 5.8111 (January 1994), 5.3511 (1993), 4.2500 (fixed rate 1989-1992); note - effective 13 April 1993, the exchange rate of the TT dollar is market-determined as opposed to the prior fixed relationship to the US dollar

Fiscal year: calendar year

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