Economy of Aruba
Economy - overview:
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $1.94 billion (1999 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.5% (2000)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $28,000 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4% (2000)
Labor force:
41,501
Labor force - by occupation:
most employment is in wholesale and retail trade and repair, followed by hotels and restaurants; oil refining
Unemployment rate:
0.6%
Budget:
Industries:
tourism, transshipment facilities, oil refining
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production:
450 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source:
Electricity - consumption:
418.5 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products:
aloes; livestock; fish
Exports:
$2.58 billion f.o.b. (including oil reexports) (2000)
Exports - commodities:
live animals and animal products, art and collectibles, machinery and electrical equipment, transport equipment
Exports - partners:
US 42%, Colombia 20%, Netherlands 12% (1999)
Imports:
$2.61 billion f.o.b. (2000)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and electrical equipment, crude oil for refining and reexport, chemicals; foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
US 63%, Netherlands 11%, Netherlands Antilles 3%, Japan (1999)
Debt - external:
$285 million (1996)
Economic aid - recipient:
$26 million (1995); note - the Netherlands provided a $127 million aid package to Aruba and Suriname in 1996
Currency:
Aruban guilder/florin (AWG)
Currency code:
AWG
Exchange rates:
Aruban guilders/florins per US dollar - 1.7900 (fixed rate since 1986)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
See also: Aruba
Tourism is the mainstay of the small, open Aruban economy, with offshore banking and oil refining and storage also important. The rapid growth of the tourism sector over the last decade has resulted in a substantial expansion of other activities. Construction has boomed, with hotel capacity five times the 1985 level. In addition, the reopening of the country's oil refinery in 1993, a major source of employment and foreign exchange earnings, has further spurred growth. Aruba's small labor force and low unemployment rate have led to a large number of unfilled job vacancies, despite sharp rises in wage rates in recent years. The government's goal of balancing the budget within two years will hamper expenditures, as will the decline in stopover tourist arrivals following the 11 September terrorist attacks.
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
revenues: $135.81 million
expenditures: $147 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000)
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%