Part 889

Flag description: white with a modified US coat of arms in the center between the large blue initials V and I; the coat of arms shows a yellow eagle holding an olive branch in one talon and three arrows in the other with a superimposed shield of vertical red and white stripes below a blue panel

Economy

Economy - overview: Tourism is the primary economic activity, accounting for more than 70% of GDP and 70% of employment. The number of US tourists in the first five months of 1996 was down by 55% from the same period in 1995, the lingering result of the fierce hurricanes of 1995. Unemployment rose sharply in 1996. The manufacturing sector consists of textile, electronics, pharmaceutical, and watch assembly plants. The agricultural sector is small, most food being imported. International business and financial services are a small but growing component of the economy. One of the world's largest petroleum refineries is at Saint Croix. A major economic problem at the beginning of 1997 was the more than $1 billion in governmental arrears, in income tax refunds, payments to vendors, and overdue wages.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.2 billion (1987 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: NA%

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $12,500 (1987 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services : NA%

Inflation rate - consumer price index: NA%

Labor force: total: 47,443 (1990 est.) by occupation: agriculture, industry, services, other (1990 est.)

Unemployment rate: 6.2% (March 1994)

Budget: revenues: $364.4 million expenditures : $364.4 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)

Industries: tourism, petroleum refining, watch assembly, rum distilling, construction, pharmaceuticals, textiles, electronics

Industrial production growth rate: 12% (year NA)

Electricity - capacity: NA kW

Electricity - production: 990 million kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 9,565 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: truck garden products, fruit, vegetables, sorghum; Senepol cattle

Exports: total value: $1.8 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities : refined petroleum products partners: US, Puerto Rico

Imports: total value: $2.2 billion (c.i.f., 1992) commodities: crude oil, foodstuffs, consumer goods, building materials partners: US, Puerto Rico

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid: $NA

Currency: 1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: US currency is used

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September

@Virgin Islands:Communications

Telephones: 60,000 (1990 est.)

Telephone system: domestic : modern, uses fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay international: submarine cable and satellite communications; satellite earth stations - NA

Radio broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 8, shortwave 0 (1988)