Barbados

ECONOMICS

Barbados is the wealthiest and one of the most developed countries in the Eastern Caribbean and enjoys one of the highest per capita incomes in the region. Historically, the Barbadian economy was dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities. However, in recent years the economy has diversified into light industry and tourism. Offshore finance and information services are important foreign exchange earners, boosted by being in the same time zone as eastern US financial centers and by a relatively highly educated workforce. Following the 2008-09 recession, external vulnerabilities such as fluctuations in international oil prices have hurt economic growth, raised Barbados’ already high public debt to GDP ratio - which stood at 105% of GDP in 2016 - and cut into its international reserves.

 

1990 2000 2010 2016
GNI, Atlas method (current US$) (billions) 1.99 2.97 4.4 4.33
GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) 7,660 11,010 15,740 15,210
GNI, PPP (current international $) (billions) 2.37 3.23 4.4 4.89
GNI per capita, PPP (current international $) 9,120 11,980 15,730 17,170
GDP (current US$) (billions) 2.02 3.12 4.46 4.53
GDP growth (annual %) -3.3 2.3 0.3 2
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %) 3.8 0.7 0.3 -3.1
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP) 3 2 1 1
Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP) 19 15 14 13
Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) 43 42 40 36
Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) 43 46 49 46
Gross capital formation (% of GDP) 15 18 16 17
Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) .. 27.8 27 27.5
Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) .. -2.4 -7.9 -9
States and markets
Time required to start a business (days) .. .. 18 15
Domestic credit provided by financial sector (% of GDP) 51.1 58.2 110.6 ..
Tax revenue (% of GDP) .. 24.7 25.1 26.1
Military expenditure (% of GDP) .. .. .. ..
Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) 0 10.5 125.2 116.6
Individuals using the Internet (% of population) 0 4 65.1 79.5
High-technology exports (% of manufactured exports) 20 23 12 24
Statistical Capacity score (Overall average) .. .. .. ..
Global links
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) 45 46 45 47
Net barter terms of trade index (2000 = 100) .. 100 118 123
External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$) (millions) .. .. .. ..
Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) .. .. .. ..
Net migration (thousands) -3 0 2 ..
Personal remittances, received (current US$) (millions) 38 113 82 108
Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) (millions) 11 19 669 228
Net official development assistance received (current US$) (millions) 2.6 0.2 16.2 ..