Jamaica suffered through decades of stagnant growth and growing debt. That said, Jamaica has finally found its way to economic growth and stability, and has made great progress according to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Nearly 60% of Jamaica’s population of 2.8 million residents lives in coastal communities. This makes them highly susceptible to harm resulting from climate change, such as rising sea levels, hurricanes, and storm surges.
Excessively high oil prices have been a severe problem for many nations throughout the world. This is especially true for the developing countries that are dependent on oil to continue thriving. Some exporters have argued, reasonably, that high prices maximize their earnings from a finite resource. For example, in corrupt and mismanaged Venezuela, gas and oil amount to approximately 98% of total exports and 40% of GDP.
Jamaica is a lower middle-income economies coming under the Latin American and the Caribbean region as to the classification made by the World Bank on the basis of income and region for the year 2006.
The services sector of the country has contributed a lot to the country’s Gross Domestic Product followed by the industries sector. Both Agriculture and tourism are considered as the important areas of concern.
For the Jamaican economy to survive, it must rely heavily on services, which account for over 60% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. The majority of revenue comes from tourism and transportation associated with foreign currency but bauxite/alumina and remittance inflows are also depended on. In fact, approximately 20% of the GDP is connected to remittance inflows. Unfortunately, of all Latin American countries, Jamaica has experienced the slowest economic growth and experts believe the country will continue to be faced with challenges for years to come.
