Barbados

The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. Slaves worked the sugar plantations established on the island until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy remained heavily dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production through most of the 20th century. The gradual introduction of social and political reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led to complete independence from the UK in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance.

Main Airports

Barbados (BGI) (Grantley Adams International)

U.S. Embassy

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, Broad Street, Bridgetown
tel: 246-436-4950

Statistics

GDP: purchasing power parity:

$4.745 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

4.1% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity:

17,000 (2005 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

-0.5% (2003 est.)

Labor force:

128,500 (2001 est.)

Exports:

$209 million (2004 est.)

Exports - partners:

US 18.6%, Trinidad and Tobago 15%, UK 12.1%, Saint Lucia 8.4%, Jamaica 7.9%, Grenada 4.6%, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 4.6% (2005)

Imports:

$1.476 billion (2004 est.)

Imports - partners:

NZ 45.9%, US 20.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 12% (2005)

Population:

279,912 (July 2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.37% (2006 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line:

NA%

Major Industries:

tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export

Employing Workers: *

Registering Property: *

Enforcing Contracts: *

Closing a Business: *

*2006 World Bank rank out of 175 countries

Starting a Business

The table below shows the number of steps and the amount of time needed to start a business, on average

Indicator

Barbados

Region

• Agriculture
• Apparel
• Arts & Crafts
• Automobile
• Bags, Cases & Boxes
• Chemicals
• Computer Hardware & Software
• Construction & Real Estate
• Consumer Electronics
• Electrical & Electronics
• Energy & Environment
• Food & Beverage
• Furniture & Furnishing
• Health & Medicine
• Home Supplies
• Industrial Supplies
• Lights & Lighting
• Machinery
• Mineral & Materials
• Office Supplies
• Security & Protection
• Service
• Sports & Entertainment
• Telecommunications
• Textile
• Toys
• Transportation