Improving indicators
The country managed to bring down its abysmal external debt from 135% of its GDP in 2013 to 120% in 2016, when the country's current Prime Minister took over as head of government, Andrew Holmes (of the Labour Party). Then the debt reduced to around 95% in 2018 and 2019 thanks to a marked improvement in its economy, before rising to 110% in 2020 due to the health crisis. On the other hand, its population density is one of the highest in the world (266 inhabitants per km2), a total of 3 million people. A real challenge for the ever-growing urban areas.
Jamaica was one of the poorest islands in the Caribbean, about 20% lived below the poverty line in 2017, compared to 12.6% in 2018, and even to 11% in 2019 due to the good economic performance of the country in recent years. This still stubborn misery for a large section of the population is a factor of social instability. The slowdown of the global economy has worsened the precarious situation of the poorest. The unemployment rate has also fallen to 8.5% from 13% a few years ago, but the most affected are still the young. The privatisation of many major sectors and companies (including the former national airline, Air Jamaica, and the sugar industry companies) and the stimulus given to the creation of new businesses are important government measures. Foreign investment is also widely encouraged. Spain has invested heavily in resorts in recent years. The island has long been considered a satellite of the United States, and most of Jamaica's trade is still with that country.
Improving indicators
The country managed to bring down its abysmal external debt from 135% of GDP in 2013 to 120% in 2016, when the country's current Prime Minister took over as head of government, Andrew Holmes (of the Labor Party). Then the debt fell to about 95 per cent in 2018 and 2019 thanks to a marked improvement in its economy, before rising to 110 per cent in 2020 due to the health crisis. On the other hand, its population density is one of the highest in the world (266 inhabitants per km2), a total of 3 million people. A real challenge for the ever-growing urban areas.
Jamaica was one of the poorest islands in the Caribbean, about 20% lived below the poverty line in 2017, compared to 12.6% in 2018, and even 11% in 2019 due to the good economic performance of the country in recent years. This persistent poverty for a large segment of the population is a factor of social instability. The slowdown in the overall economy has worsened the precarious situation of the poorest. The unemployment rate has also dropped to 8.5% from 13% a few years ago, but the most affected are the young. The privatization of many major sectors and companies (including the former national airline, Air Jamaica, and the sugar industry companies) and the stimulus given to business creation are important government measures. Foreign investment is also widely encouraged. Spain has invested heavily in resorts in recent years. The island has long been considered a satellite of the United States, and most of Jamaica's trade is still with that country.
A booming luxury tourism industry
Tourism in Jamaica is an old tradition that dates back to the last century. At that time, banana companies exported their products to New England. The boats returned to Jamaica empty and the idea was born to make them profitable by bringing tourists. The first tourists disembarked in the Port Antonio area. Since then, tourist fever has spread throughout the island, especially on the north coast, which is richly endowed with dream beaches from Negril to Port Antonio.
Today, the dream beaches of the eternal sun fill the cash drawer. Tourism, a major source of income for the country, represents 30% of the GDP. With nearly 5 million tourists in 2019, employs nearly 100,000 people and is rather specialized in high-end tourism. A sector that is currently suffering from the health crisis and travel restrictions until the return to normal. French tourists have been increasing on the island for a few years. Both countries would like to see the number of French tourists increase to 50,000 by the time the airlines resume their rhythm.
A booming luxury tourism industry
Tourism in Jamaica is an old tradition that goes back to the last century. At that time, banana companies exported their production to New England. The boats returned to Jamaica empty and the idea was born to make them profitable by bringing tourists. The first tourists disembarked in the Port Antonio area. Since then, the tourist fever has spread all over the island and mainly on the north coast, which is richly endowed with dream beaches from Negril to Port Antonio.
Today, the beaches with their eternal sunshine fill the cash drawer. Tourism, a major source of income for the country, represents 30% of the GDP. With nearly 5 million tourists in 2019, the sector employs nearly 100,000 people and is rather specialized in high-end tourism. A sector that is currently suffering from the health crisis and travel restrictions while waiting for a return to normalcy. French tourists are definitely increasing on the island for some years. Both countries would like to see the number of French tourists increase to 50,000 by the time the airlines resume their rhythm.
Alternative tourism with great potential
The development of ecotourism is on the agenda but has not yet blossomed, the all-inclusive resorts of the coast remaining the behemoths capturing the entire market. But there is room for all! And the approach of a more equitable tourism, based on the relationship with the local communities of fishermen, craftsmen or farmers, starts in the south of the island. A more modern tourism too, because today, the island does not want to rely only on its beaches, its luxury hotels in "all-inclusive" formula where people do not leave their deckchairs. But also on its charming accommodations (boutique hotels on a human scale), its reggae music that radiates throughout the world, its "I-tal" vegetarian Rasta food, its sports activities (diving, hiking in the Blue Mountains). But above all, its unique culture, coloured in green, yellow and red, its luxuriant nature, its marked identity, unparalleled in the Caribbean, and its charming, festive and welcoming population.
An alternative tourism in the making
The development of ecotourism is on the agenda but has not yet blossomed, the all-inclusive resorts of the coast remaining the behemoths capturing the entire market. But there is room for all! And the approach of a more equitable tourism, based on the relationship with the local communities of fishermen, craftsmen or farmers, starts in the south of the island. A more modern tourism too, because today, the island does not want to bet only on its beaches, its luxury hotels in formula "all-inclusive" where people leave their deckchairs little. But also on its charming accommodations (boutique-hotels on a human scale), its reggae music that radiates throughout the world, its "I-tal" vegetarian rasta food, its sports activities (diving, hiking in the Blue Mountains). But most of all, its unique culture colored in green, yellow and red, its luxuriant nature, its marked identity without equal in the Caribbean and its charming, festive and welcoming population.
Jamaica's polarized agriculture
Large, intensive farms are located in fertile and easily accessible areas, with products destined for export: sugar, citrus, tropical fruits and spices. The small peasant farms are relegated to the less fertile and less easily exploited lands, producing a subsistence economy based on mixed crops. A significant rural exodus, lack of mechanization and archaic methods have made the agricultural sector less important, although it still employs 20% of the working population. Tourism has developed considerably in the coastal areas, reducing the extent of sugarcane and coconut monocultures.
But paradoxically, the large plantations suffer from a chronic lack of manpower, as rural populations turn away from this often poorly paid work. The country still derives a large part of its revenue from foreign agricultural trade, particularly from the export of sugar. The exploitation of sugar cane still plays an important role in the island's economy, although the area exploited and the harvests are constantly decreasing. Half of the production is carried out by small family farms. Jamaica sells most of it to the European Union, and some to the United States. Today, the government continues its policy of privatizing farms. Long confined to its role as a sugar and banana island, Jamaica has diversified its crops, although sugar and bananas still account for 30% of agricultural production. Most of the banana production is for export. Almost all tropical products are grown on the island: coconuts, peppers, coffee, cocoa and tobacco, citrus fruits..
Low industrial productivity
Apart from bauxite, industry is anecdotal in Jamaica. Local industries were born out of the shortage of imports during World War II, but the lack of capital, skilled labour and raw materials makes the development of a strong industrial sector utopian, especially since the consumption capacity of the domestic market is low. Moreover, the industries cannot face foreign competition today. American aid was considerable, both economic and military. At the end of the 1940s, the Textile Encouragement Law was intended to encourage local and foreign investment. The first industries produced shoes, then clothing. Most of the companies were small, hence the low productivity of the country. Mainly located in the Kingston area, they invaded the rural areas. An agri-food industry emerged (fruit canning, meat processing)
Bauxite, profitable but polluting
Jamaica is the world's seventh largest producer of bauxite (about 7.7 million tons per year), more than half of which is exported to the United States. Discovered in 1860, the red clay containing iron and alumina has only been mined since the early 1960s, so most of the island's reserves are still intact. The main deposits are on the surface and close to the coast, which makes exploitation easy and particularly competitive. The proximity of the North American market and the cheap local labor force are all assets that consolidate Jamaica's position in this sector.
But its exploitation, if it is still far from having reached its maximum, risks raising environmental problems, and in particular landscapes. Indeed, its extraction is very destructive, since it is done on the surface and leaves behind immense spaces resembling bloody battlefields, because of the redness of this ferrous earth.
Jamaica's red mud spreads on the outskirts of Kingston. Today, it represents an unhoped-for economic potential as a huge deposit of rare metals that the world's industrial giants are seeking to exploit. In 2017, the island's largest bauxite plant, Alpart, which had been closed for more than 9 years, reopened after a buyout by Chinese company JISCO
Ganja, between decriminalisation and legality
Weed has become a friend of the poor as many small farmers have gained real prosperity from it. In the 1970s, 70% of Jamaican marijuana production was exported to the United States. Marijuana consumption is an integral part of the Rasta cult (and more broadly, of Jamaican society), promoting meditation exercises. However, not all Rastafarians smoke and this sacrament is one of the most contested in the religion. The chalice, a pipe of cow or goat horn or a pipe of bamboo or wood, is prepared with water, the tobacco-herb mixture is made in a rigorous ritual, accompanied by blessings and recitations of prayers.
If the use of ganja is decriminalized for Rastafarians since 2015, its outright legalization could not be achieved under strong pressure from the United States, which are firmly opposed. Ganja can be found just about everywhere on the island: in rural areas, deep in vegetable gardens, in the swamps of the Great Morass, in the wilds of Cockpit Country or in the hills of Westmoreland. The tourist is regularly offered some by small street vendors. Officially, he is supposed to have a medical prescription that authorizes him to do so (and the weed shops give it ad hoc to the customers), in practice, the police will never control non-Rasta Jamaicans or tourists smoking.
Crime aggravated by the crisis
In 2020, Jamaica recorded a sad record: that of the country with the highest crime rate in South America and the Caribbean, far ahead of Colombia or Brazil, with a rate of 46.5 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, roughly equivalent to that of Venezuela, according to the NGO Insight Crime's, a sad record. By way of comparison, in Europe the rate is close to 3 per 100,000... Crime, although localized in certain non-touristy urban areas, mainly the ghettos where drug traffickers are rampant, remains a relative brake on the arrival of foreign visitors. But above all, the violence linked to drug and arms trafficking, fed by galloping unemployment, corruption and structural weakness, is undermining the island's growth, and inflation (3.9% in 2019 and a jump to 5.2% in 2020) is lowering the standard of living of the most vulnerable. A major issue that is repeated in all countries of the Caribbean area, a real hub of drugs to the United States. Moreover, it is not only ganja that goes to the North, cocaine from Latin America transits through the Caribbean and creates international trafficking with much more tentacular financial stakes
