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 - $11.07 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3.2% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $10,000 (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 (37257)
Natural gas - production:
15.19 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
11.54 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
3.65 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
610.6 billion cu m (37257)
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 56.9%, Jamaica 7.3%, France 4.4% (2002)
Imports:
$3.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live
animals
Imports - partners:
US 42%, Cote d'Ivoire 5.5%, UK 5%, Japan 4.5%, Brazil 4.3% (2002)
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 - 6.24 (2002), 6.23
(2001), 6.3 (2000), 6.3 (1999), 6.3 (1998)
Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September