ECONOMY
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 (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.5% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $5,800 (2001 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
