Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index

Economy of the Isle of Man

Offshore banking, manufacturing, and tourism are key sectors of the economy of the Isle of Man. The government's policy of offering incentives to high-technology companies and financial institutions to locate on the island has paid off in expanding employment opportunities in high-income industries. As a result, agriculture and fishing, once the mainstays of the economy, have declined in their shares of GDP. Banking and other services now contribute the great bulk of GDP. Trade is mostly with the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man has access to European Union markets.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.2 billion (1998 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: NA%

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $16,000 (1998 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1%
industry: 10%
services: 89% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 36,610 (1998)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture, forestry and fishing 3%, manufacturing 11%, construction 10%, transportation and communication 8%, wholesale and retail distribution 11%, professional and scientific services 18%, public administration 6%, banking and finance 18%, tourism 2%, entertainment and catering 3%, miscellaneous services 10%

Unemployment rate: 0.7% (July 1999)

Budget:
revenues: $816 million
expenditures: $504 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00 est.)

Industries: financial services, light manufacturing, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (1996/97)

Electricity - production: 329 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 287 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: NA kWh

Electricity - imports: NA kWh

Agriculture - products: cereals, vegetables, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry

Exports: $NA

Exports - commodities: tweeds, herring, processed shellfish, beef, lamb

Exports - partners: UK

Imports: $NA

Imports - commodities: timber, fertilizers, fish

Imports - partners: UK

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid - recipient: $NA

Currency: 1 Manx pound = 100 pence

Exchange rates: Manx pounds per US$1 - 0.6092 (January 2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6106 (1997), 0.6403 (1996), 0.6335 (1995); the Manx pound is at par with the British pound

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

See also : Isle of Man