Jamaican Economy by Monica Murcia

Because Jamaica is a small island, the economy in not the most advanced and developed one. Its economy is very similar to the economy of many of the undeveloped Latin-American countries, is based especially on tourism, agriculture and mining, and in a less proportion foresting and fishing.

Tourism is the activity that more contributes to the Jamaican economy. It is the activity that provides more than a half of the employments. In terms of agriculture, the most important product is the sugar, which covers the 7.1 % of the exports. Also the exportation of banana makes a significant contribution to the Jamaican Economy; it covers over the 2.4% of the total exports. Other important product is the coffee; coffee is mainly grown around the Blue Mountains and in hilly areas, where one type, Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, is considered one of the best in the world. It covers around the 1.9 % of the exports. As well as agriculture, fishing contributes to the economy, but in a smaller proportion. In Jamaica most of the habitants live from the fishing activity. There are mainly fished, carp, barbell, crustaceans and mollusks. In the mining area, the most important products are the bauxite and alumina, producing 12,6 millions tons of bauxite and 3.46 million tons of alumina. Jamaica is actually the third producer of bauxite. The export of these minerals covers around the 55.7 of the total exports. Other minerals found and exploited in Jamaica is Marble, Limestone and Silica.