Haiti Information

Haiti info brings out important facts about the agriculture, industry and currency of Haiti. Haiti is a Caribbean state with poor economic conditions.

Economy of Haiti

Haiti info reveals that about eighty percent of the total Haitian population live below the poverty line and major portion of the Haitian population is engaged in agricultural activities, specifically small scale farming.

In 2005, Haitian government in assistance with IMF (International Monetary Fund) had implemented a macroeconomic program, which promoted the economic growth rate by 1.8% in 2006, the highest growth rate since 1999.

Agriculture

Agriculture plays a major role behind the growth of Haitian economy. Farming is the backbone of Haitian economy. About one third of the total land areas in Haiti is cultivable. Coffee is the main agricultural product, whereas sugarcane is the second major cash crop in Haiti.
Other agricultural products include rice, bananas, corn, sorghum, dry beans and cocoa beans. Crops are normally cultivated with simple manual tools.

Industry

Major Haitian industries include manufacturing, construction, mining and energy. Among all these, manufacturing industry contributes the major portion to the economy of Haiti. In 1988, manufacturing contributed 17% of the total GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of Haiti. Almost 6% of the total workforce in Haiti is engaged in the manufacturing industry. Manufacturing industry in Haiti can be divided into domestic manufacturing and assembly manufacturing.

• Domestic manufacturing comprise of products like paper, matches, leather, food products, cardboard, beverages, plastics, metals, soap, cigarettes and textiles.
• Assembly Manufacturing mainly concerns sewing of garments, stuffing of toys, stringing of baseballs and many more. Assembly exports are gradually expanding. Some of the assembled products in Haiti are garments, baseballs, electronics, games, footwear, sporting goods, toys, and leather products.

Construction

Construction industry in Haiti is expanding rapidly. It can be regarded as the second largest growing industry in Haiti after assembly manufacturing.

Mining

About one percent of the total workforce in Haiti is engaged in mining industry. Bauxite and copper are the major mining products in Haiti. The other mining products include gold, silver, coal, nickel, iron, tungsten, marble, gypsum and manganese.

Energy

Energy industry in Haiti basically depends on the hydroelectric power. Most of the people in Haiti use wood as their main source of energy.

In 2005, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was $12.85 billion.

Trade partners: Leading trading partners of Haiti are U.S., Cuba, UK, Canada, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago.

Currency of Haiti: Gourde (HTG)