Economy - overview:
About 80% of the population lives in abject poverty. Nearly 70% of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming and employs about two-thirds of the economically active work force. Following legislative elections in May 2000, fraught with irregularities, international donors - including the US and EU - suspended almost all aid to Haiti. The economy shrank an estimated 1.2% in 2001 and an estimated 0.9% in 2002. The contraction will likely intensify in 2003 unless a political agreement with donors is reached on economic policy. Suspended aid and loan disbursements totaled more than $500 million at the start of 2003.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $12 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
-1.5% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 30%
industry: 20%
services: 50% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
80% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
11.9% (2001 est.)
Labor force:
3.6 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (1995)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 66%, services 25%, industry 9%
Unemployment rate:
widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs (2002 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $273 million
expenditures: $361 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.)
Industries:
sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement, light assembly industries based on imported parts
Industrial production growth rate:
NA
Electricity - production:
580 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 60.3%
hydro: 39.7%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
539.4 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
11,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum; wood
Exports:
$298 million f.o.b. (2002)
Exports - commodities:
manufactures, coffee, oils, cocoa
Exports - partners:
US 84.3%, EU 5% (2001)
Imports:
$1.14 billion c.i.f. (2002)
Imports - commodities:
food, manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, raw materials
Imports - partners:
US 55.9%, EU 9.8%, Dominican Republic (2001)
Debt - external:
$1.2 billion (1999)
Economic aid - recipient:
$730.6 million (1995)
Currency:
gourde (HTG)
Currency code:
HTG
Exchange rates:
gourdes per US dollar - 29.2505 (2002), 24.4291 (2001), 21.1707 (2000), 16.9379 (1999), 16.7657 (1998)
Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September
NOTE: The information regarding Haiti on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Haiti Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
