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. The government in 2005 strengthened its controls over dollars coming into the economy from tourism, remittances, and trade. External financing has helped growth in the mining, oil, construction, and tourism sectors. |
GDP - per capita | $3,300 (2005 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate (%) | 5.2% (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans; livestock |
GDP - composition by sector (%) | agriculture: 5.5%, industry: 26.1%, services: 68.4% (2005 est.) |
Industries | sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals |
Economic aid - recipient | $68.2 million (1997 est.) |
Debt - external | $13.1 billion (convertible currency); another $15-20 billion owed to Russia (2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line (%) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation (%) | agriculture 21.2%, industry 14.4%, services 64.4% (2004) |