Aruba's economy

Before the end of 18, Aruba was used by colonial authorities to raise horses, and local and mainland Indians served as herders. Only from the19th century did land be sold to individual immigrants. Despite people's efforts to grow medicinal aloe vera, agriculture has not improved. Gold mining began in 1824, but ended in the early 20th century. In A.D. 1920, when the port of San Nicola began to refine oil, Aruba's economy began to improve. Crude oil is mainly imported from Venezuela. 1985 The closure of the refinery triggered a serious economic crisis, which has been solved by vigorously promoting and expanding tourism (including building luxury hotels and casinos to match the idyllic island scenery). Some people try to diversify Aruba's economy, some want to build it into a free trade zone, and some plan to build it into an international and offshore financial center. Aruba mainly trades with the United States, Venezuela and the Netherlands. There is an international airport on the island, which can further use the steamboat and cruise business to contact with the outside world.

About half of Aruba's gross national product (GNP) comes from tourism or related industries, and most tourists come from other countries in America, among which American tourists account for the majority. In addition, oil refining and shipping still contribute a lot to Aruba's income, while agriculture and production account for a small proportion. Up to now, the Netherlands still pays a considerable amount of development aid to Aruba every year, and the development of overseas business services is also worrying.

In the past, the refinery, Aruba's most important economic source, was closed on 1985, but it resumed operation after 1993. This is the only representative industrial production on the island, and it also provides many foreign trade income and employment opportunities.

Before it was upgraded to an autonomous institution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba originally used the same monetary unit as its motherland, called the Aruba Shield (AWG). However, after 1986 became an autonomous country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba set up its own central bank and issued a new currency unit Aruban Frohring (its international currency code is still called AWG, although it is often referred to as the abbreviation of Afl). Aruba Frohring operates in the way of locking the exchange rate with the US dollar, and each US dollar is convertible to 1.79 Aruba Frohring, which has not changed since it opened. High inflation all the year round is a hidden worry of Aruba's economy, but the island's ultra-low unemployment rate is only 1%, which is still rare compared with neighboring Caribbean countries.

The main economic data in 2005 are as follows:

Gross domestic product: US$ 2.258 billion

Per capita GDP: (2004) $265,438+$0,800.

GDP growth rate: 2.4%

Inflation rate: 3.4%

Unemployment rate: 6.9%