|
Economy -
overview: |
The economy has
traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate.
Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in
some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been
pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high
unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap
in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and
accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian
communities are substantially better off than other segments of the
population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority
groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer
nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in
February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions.
The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued
financial assistance from France. |
|
GDP: |
purchasing power parity
- $4.348 billion (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - real
growth rate: |
2.5% (2004 est.)
|
|
GDP - per
capita: |
purchasing power parity
- $5,800 (2004 est.) |
|
GDP -
composition by sector: |
agriculture:
8%
industry: 19%
services: 73% (2000 est.) |
|
Population
below poverty line: |
NA |
|
Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
NA
highest 10%: NA |
|
Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
NA |
|
Labor
force: |
309,900 (2000)
|
|
Labor
force - by occupation: |
agriculture 13%,
industry 12%, services 75% (2000) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
36% (1999 est.)
|
|
Budget: |
revenues:
$1.26 billion
expenditures: $2.62 billion, including capital expenditures of
NA (1998) |
|
Agriculture - products: |
sugarcane, vanilla,
tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn |
|
Industries: |
sugar, rum, cigarettes,
handicraft items, flower oil extraction |
|
Industrial
production growth rate: |
NA |
|
Electricity - production: |
1.08 billion kWh (2001)
|
|
Electricity - consumption: |
1.005 billion kWh
(2001) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
0 kWh (2001)
|
|
Electricity - imports: |
0 kWh (2001)
|
|
Oil -
production: |
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
|
|
Oil -
consumption: |
18,000 bbl/day (2001
est.) |
|
Oil -
exports: |
NA (2001) |
|
Oil -
imports: |
NA (2001) |
|
Exports: |
$214 million f.o.b.
(1997) |
|
Exports -
commodities: |
sugar 63%, rum and
molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993) |
|
Exports -
partners: |
France 74%, Japan 6%,
Comoros 4% (2000) |
|
Imports: |
$2.5 billion c.i.f.
(1997) |
|
Imports -
commodities: |
manufactured goods,
food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw
materials, and petroleum products |
|
Imports -
partners: |
France 64%, Bahrain 3%,
Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000) |
|
Debt -
external: |
NA |
|
Economic
aid - recipient: |
$NA; note - substantial
annual subsidies from France (2001 est.) |
|
Currency: |
euro (EUR) |
|
Currency
code: |
EUR |
|
Exchange
rates: |
euros per US dollar -
0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386
(1999) |
|
Fiscal
year: |
calendar year
|