ECONOMY OVERVIEW
The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing Cuba oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 98,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel, including some 20,000 medical professionals. In 2006, high metals prices continued to boost Cuban earnings from nickel and cobalt production. Havana continued to invest in the country's energy sector to mitigate electrical blackouts that have plagued the country since 2004.
GDP - purchasing power parity:
$45.51 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
9.5% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita:
$4,000 (2006 est.)
GDP - by sector (agriculture):
agriculture: 5.1%
GDP - by sector (industry):
industry: 27.2%
GDP - by sector (services):
services: 67.6% (2006 est.)
Export Partners:
Canada 20.9%, Netherlands 20.9%, China 18.1%, Spain 5.7% (2006)
Import Partners:
China 21.6%, Spain 13.3%, Germany 8.8%, Canada 7.6%, Italy 6.1%, US 5.9%, Brazil 5.2%, Mexico 4.7% (2006)
Export Commodities:
sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee
Import Commodities:
petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Exports Volume:
$2.956 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports Volume:
$9.51 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Labour Force:
4.82 million
Unemployment Rate:
1.9% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Inflation Rate:
5% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
11.9% of GDP (2006 est.)
Public Debt:
Agriculture Products:
sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans; livestock
Industries:
sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals
Industrial Production Growth Rate:
17.6% (2006 est.)
Electricity - production:
15.34 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption:
14.1 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2004)
Oil - production:
72,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:
204,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day
Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day
Natural gas - production:
704 million cu m (2004)
Natural gas - consumption:
Natural gas - exports:
Natural gas - imports:
Current Account Balance:
-$1.218 billion (2006 est.)
Currency Code:
Cuban peso (CUP) and Convertible peso (CUC)