CONFIDENTIAL
THE CARIBBEAN DEPENDENCIES, BERMUDA AND ST HELENA
BACKGROUND AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
I
BERMUDA
ANNEX D
General
Main Imports
Total Imports (1984/85)
Main Foreign Currency
Earners
Petroleum and products, manufactured
goods, motor vehicles, food, chemicals.
$38 2m
-
Tourism, re-export of pharmaceuticals,
offshore companies and financial
services
Total Foreign Currency
Earnings (1983/84)
Main Industries
UK Aid (1985/6)
-
$765m
- Tourism and offshore finance
-
Nil
Economic
1. With few natural resources and virtually no manufacturing activities to speak of Bermuda's economy is heavily dependent on the export of services and tourism. The latter, the island's
principal industry, represents 50% of foreign currency earnings and employs 40% of the local workforce, with 93% of visitors
arriving from North America. High local prices in the early 1980s caused a fall in tourism revenue but recently trade has picked up again. The strength of the US dollar, to which the Bermudan dollar is tied, is a major influence on the relative
attractiveness of Bermuda as a tourist destination.
International company business and insurance is, after tourism, Bermuda's second industry accounting for 30% of foreign revenue earnings and employing around 2,000 people. Bermuda suffers only minimally from corruption.
DP 2ABD
CONFIDENTIAL