Cuba

Cuba: steady but modest growth, 1980–2020

A centrally planned economy since the 1959 revolution, Cuba lost the Soviet subsidies it depended on in 1991, plunging it into the 'Special Period' depression, and has since relied on tourism, remittances, and exports of medical services under the long-running US embargo. Between 1980 and 2020, Cuba's GDP per capita grew from $2,031 to $9,605 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 4.0% — steady but modest growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 1.9% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 6.1 points, reflecting considerable volatility and periodic crises. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 12.0% to 1.2% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 64.7% to 73.4% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 72.6 to 78.3 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 16.6% to 43.1%, while the urban population share grew from 68.4% to 77.2%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions fell from 3.41 to 1.91 tonnes CO2e per person.