Barbados
Veröffentlicht: 18. June 2022 - Letztes Update: 28. February 2025
Country Data Dashboard
Population
304,139
Growth: 0.23% (2024 est.)
GDP
$6.721 billion
(2023 est.)
Area
430 sq km
| Government type: | parliamentary republic; a Commonwealth realm |
| Capital: | Bridgetown |
| Languages: | English (official), Bajan (English-based creole language, widely spoken in informal settings) |
People & Society
Ethnicity (2010 est.)
Religion (2010 est.)
Age structure
Economy
Economic overview
high-income Eastern Caribbean economy; high standard of living among regional peers; key tourism, construction, and financial sectors driving recent GDP growth; declining but still very high public debt leading to IMF support programs; susceptible to natural disasters and reliance on import partners
Real GDP (purchasing power parity) in Billion $
Real GDP per capita in $
Exports & Imports in billion $
Top 5 Import Partner in 2022 (66%)
Top 5 Import Commodities in 2022
- refined petroleum ⛽
- plastic products ♻️
- cars 🚗
- railway cargo containers 🚂
- packaged medicine 💊
Top 5 Export Partner in 2022 (66%)
Top 5 Export Commodities in 2022
- liquor 🍷
- packaged medicine 💊
- ships 🚢
- paper labels 📄
- baked goods 🍞
Geography
Map
Area
Natural resources
- petroleum 🛢️
- fish 🐟
- natural gas 💨
Climate
tropical; rainy season (June to October)
Historical Background Information
Barbados was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. Enslaved Africans worked the sugar plantations established on the island, which initially dominated the Caribbean sugar industry. By 1720, Barbados was no longer a dominant force within the sugar industry, having been surpassed by the Leeward Islands and Jamaica. Slavery was abolished in 1834. The Barbadian 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 independence from the UK in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance. Barbados became a republic in 2021, with the former Governor-General Sandra MASON elected as the first president.