Economy - overview:
Trinidad and Tobago has earned a reputation as an excellent investment site for international businesses. A leading performer the past four years has been the booming natural gas sector. Tourism is a growing sector, although not proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. The economy benefits from low inflation and a trade surplus. The year 2002 was marked by solid growth in the oil sector, offset in part by domestic political uncertainty.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $11.1 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.8% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $9,500 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.6%
industry: 43.2%
services: 55.2% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line:
21% (1992 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.3% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
564,000 (2000)
Labor force - by occupation:
construction and utilities 12.4%, manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 14%, agriculture 9.5%, services 64.1% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate:
10.8% (2002)
Budget:
revenues: $1.54 billion
expenditures: $1.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $117.3 million (1998)
Industries:
petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles
Industrial production growth rate:
2.6% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
5.315 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 99.8%
hydro: 0%
other: 0.2% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
4.943 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
125,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
24,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
716 million bbl (January 2002 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
610.6 billion cu m (January 2002 est.)
Agriculture - products:
cocoa, sugarcane, rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry
Exports:
$4.2 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, steel products, fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers
Exports - partners:
US 46.6%, Jamaica 8.5%, Barbados 5.1%, France 3.8% (2000)
Imports:
$3.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live animals
Imports - partners:
US 34.2%, Venezuela 19.4%, Colombia 8.0%, UK 3.8% (2000)
Debt - external:
$2.8 billion (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$24 million (1999 est.)
Currency:
Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD)
Currency code:
TTD
Exchange rates:
Trinidad and Tobago dollars per US dollar - 6.2432 (2002), 6.2332 (2001), 6.2998 (2000), 6.2989 (1999), 6.2983 (1998)
Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September
NOTE: The information regarding Trinidad and Tobago 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 Trinidad and Tobago Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
