British Virgin Islander Economy, British Virgin Islands Economy
Advertisement
Economy - overview: The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959.
GDP:
GDP - real growth rate: 1% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita: Purchasing power parity - $38,500 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: Agriculture: 1.8% industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share: Lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
Labor force: 12,770 (2004)
Labor force - by occupation: Agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate: 3% (1995)
Budget: Revenues: $121.5 million expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1997)
Industries: Tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 36.28 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source:
Electricity - consumption: 33.74 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 420 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Oil - proved reserves:
Natural gas - production:
Natural gas - consumption:
Natural gas - exports:
Natural gas - imports:
Natural gas - proved reserves:
Agriculture - products: Fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish
Exports: $25.3 million (2002)
Exports - commodities: Rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand
Exports - partners: Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Imports: $187 million (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities: Building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery
Imports - partners: Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Debt - external: $36.1 million (1997)
Economic aid - recipient: NA
Currency:
Currency code:
Exchange rates: The US dollar is used
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Advertisement
The information here has been derived from Public Domain Sources such as the CIA World Factbook. No liability can be taken for any inaccuracies.
Tot: 0.037s; Tpl: 0.008s; cc: 6; qc: 6; dbt: 0.0098s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency....