Jamaica Country Report: GDP data and GDP forecasts; economic, financial and trade information; the best banks in Jamaica; country and population overview  DATA ON GDP AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION DATA ON TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS | Current account balance |  | US$ -1.2 billion (2009 estimate)(After 2008) | | Current account balance by percentage of GDP | | -8.3% of GDP (2009 estimate)(2009) | | Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) | | 39.1% (1997) (Data released on December 2010) | | Shares in world total merchandising export | | 0.01%(2007) (Data were released in Nov 2011 and refer to 2010) | | Shares in world total commercial services export | | 0.07%(2007) (Data were released in Nov 2011 and refer to 2010) | | Total exports | | US$1.487 billion f.o.b. (2010 estimate) | | Export commodities | | alumina, bauxite, sugar, rum, coffee, yams, beverages | | Total imports | | US$7.191 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate) | | Import commodities | | food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials | | Exports - major partners | | US 37.2%, Canada 15%, UK 9.7%, Netherlands 9.1% (2007) | | Imports - major partners | | US 37.2%, Trinidad and Tobago 14.5%, Grenada 9.7%, Venezuela 8.3%, Brazil 4.2% (2007) | | FDI inflows | | | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | | | US$1,437 million | US$541 million(2009) | US$201 million(2009) | |
| | FDI outflows | | | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | | | US$76 million | US$61 million | US$67 million | |
| | Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser | | | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | | US$13 million | US$28 million(2009) | US$1 million(2009) | N/A |
| | Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2008 (Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal) | | N/A (for a monthly update on M&A click here ) | | Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2010 (Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal) | | N/A(2008 estimate) (for a monthly update on M&A click here ) | Best countries for doing business World Bank/IFC Doing Business Project (Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1 – 183. A high ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.) | | Overall ranking: 81 out of 183 countries(2009) (2010) Subcategories: Starting a business: 18 out of 183 countries(2009) Registering property: 106 out of 183 countries Paying Taxes: 174 out of 183 countries Getting credit: 89 out of 183 countries Protecting investors: 74 out of 183 countries Trading across border: 104 out of 183 countries Enforcing Contracts: 128 out of 183 countries (2010) | Global competitiveness ranking
(ranking by country on a basis of 142, the first is the best) | | 107 (2011/2012) | Index of Economic Freedom WSJ and Heritage Foundation | | Ranking: 58 Score: 65.7 (Moderately Free) (2009) (100=totally free 0=totally repressed ) |
COUNTRY AND POPULATION OVERVIEW | Time zone | | UTC-5 | | Total area | | 10,991 km2 (2006) | | Capital | | Kingston (2009) | | Currency | | Jamaican dollars (JMD) (2009) | | Government type | | constitutional parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm (2009) | | Languages | | English, English patois | | Religions | | Protestant 62.5% (Seventh-Day Adventist 10.8%, Pentecostal 9.5%, Other Church of God 8.3%, Baptist 7.2%, New Testament Church of God 6.3%, Church of God in Jamaica 4.8%, Church of God of Prophecy 4.3%, Anglican 3.6%, other Christian 7.7%), Roman Catholic 2.6%, other or unspecified 14.2%, none 20.9%, (2001 census) | | Total population | | | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010* | 2015** | | 2.11 million | 2.37 million | 2.57 million | 2.72 million | 2.81 million |
*Estimate **Forecast | | Urban population as % of total population | | | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2009 | | 33.8% | 46.8% | 51.8% | 53.5% |
| | Population median age | | 25.0 years (2006) | | Population growth rate | | 0.5% (2009) | | Life expectancy | | 72 years (2007) | | Adult literacy | | 86% (2000/2007) | | % of population living on less than $2 a day | | 5.85% (2011) | | Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) | | 45.5 (2004) (0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality) | | Freedom House rating | | Political Rights:2
Civil Liberties:3 (2010) (1 represents the most free, 7 the least free) | | Total telephone subscribers as % of population | | 122.81% (2010) (sum of fixed telephone lines and mobile cellular subscribers) | | Internet users as % of total population | | 26.1% (Data were released in 2011 and refer to 2010) | | Cost of living index (ranking by city on a basis of 214; the 1st is the most expensive and the 214th is the least expensive) | | Kingston: 153rd (2011) | CO2 emissions
(Metric tons of CO2 per capita) | | 4.5072 (2008) |
 GLOBAL FINANCE RANKINGS AND AWARDS WORLD'S BEST INTERNET BANKS2011:- COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Consumer Internet Banks Scotiabank (National, 2011)
- COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Corporate / Institutional Internet Banks Citi (National, 2011)
2010:- COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Consumer Internet Banks Scotiabank (National, 2010)
- COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Corporate / Institutional Internet Banks Citi (National, 2010)
2009:- COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Consumer Internet Banks Scotia Bank (2009)
- COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Corporate / Institutional Internet Banks Citi (2009)
WORLD'S BEST EMERGING MARKET BANKS2012:- COUNTRY WINNERS Scotiabank Jamaica (National, 2012)
2011:- COUNTRY WINNERS Scotiabank Jamaica (National, 2011)
2010:- COUNTRY WINNERS Scotiabank Jamaica (National, 2010)
2009:- COUNTRY WINNERS Scotiabank Jamaica (National, 2009)
WORLD'S BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE PROVIDERS2012:- COUNTRY WINNERS Scotiabank Jamaica (National, 2012)
2011:- COUNTRY WINNERS Scotiabank Jamaica (National, 2011)
2010:- COUNTRY WINNERS Scotiabank Jamaica (National, 2010)
2009:- COUNTRY WINNERS Scotiabank Jamaica (National, 2009)
ARTICLES AND COUNTRIES REPORTS FROM GLOBAL FINANCE ARCHIVE |
Country Economic Reports & GDP Data 
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