Economy - overview The state plays the primary role in the economy and controls practically all foreign trade. The government has undertaken several reforms in recent years to stem excess liquidity, increase labor incentives, and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The liberalized agricultural markets introduced in October 1994, at which state and private farmers sell above-quota production at unrestricted prices, have broadened legal consumption alternatives and reduced black market prices. Government efforts to lower subsidies to unprofitable enterprises and to shrink the money supply caused the semi-official exchange rate for the Cuban peso to move from a peak of 120 to the dollar in the summer of 1994 to 23 to the dollar by yearend 1997. New taxes introduced in 1996 helped drive down the number of self-employed workers from 208,000 in January 1996 to 176,000 by September 1997. Havana announced in 1995 that GDP declined by 35% during 1989-93, the result of lost Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. The drop in GDP apparently halted in 1994, when Cuba reported 0.7% growth, followed by increases of 2.5% in 1995 and 7.8% in 1996. Growth slowed again in 1997, to 2.5%, in part due to a poor sugar harvest. Export earnings declined 3% in 1997, to $1.9 billion, the result of lower sugar export volume and lower world prices for nickel and sugar. Imports remained unchanged in 1997 at $3.2 billion. Tourism plays a key role in foreign currency earnings. The disparity between those at the top of the ladder and those at the bottom has increased markedly in the past 10 years. Living standards for the average Cuban remain at a depressed level compared with 1990.

GDP purchasing power parity - $16.9 billion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 2.5% (1997 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,540 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 7.6%
industry: 34.8%
services: 57.6% (1996 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index NA%

Labor force
total: 4.5 million economically active population (1996 est.)
by occupation: services and government 30%, industry 22%, agriculture 20%, commerce 11%, construction 10%, transportation and communications 7% (June 1990)
note: state sector 76%, non-state sector 24% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate 8% (1996 est.)

Budget
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries sugar, petroleum, food, tobacco, textiles, chemicals, paper and wood products, metals (particularly nickel), cement, fertilizers, consumer goods, agricultural machinery

Industrial production growth rate 6% (1995 est.)

Electricity - capacity 3.988 million kW (1995)

Electricity - production 10.105 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 924 kWh (1995)

Agriculture - products sugarcane, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes and other tubers, beans; livestock

Exports
total value: $1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: sugar, nickel, tobacco, shellfish, medical products, citrus, coffee
partners: Russia 18%, Netherlands 14% Canada 13% (1997 est.)

Imports
total value: $3.2 billion (c.i.f., 1997 est.)
commodities: petroleum, food, machinery, chemicals
partners: Spain 14%, Russia 12%, Mexico 9% (1997 est.)

Debt - external $10.5 billion (convertible currency, 1996); another $20 billion owed to Russia (1996)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $46 million (1997 est.)

Currency 1 Cuban peso (Cu$) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates Cuban pesos (Cu$) per US$1 - 1.0000 (non-convertible, official rate, linked to the US dollar)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Cuba on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cuba Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cuba Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.