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Figure 6.8 Micro Economies per capita income in 1960
$1,600 J
a
$1,400 --
t * $1,200 -
a
•
§ $1,000 --
^
Trinidad Barbados Mauritius Fiji Cyprus Malta
&Tobago
Soiree: Summen & ileüon, Dec, 1991,I'eim WariiiTablci (FWT) venian 5.6.,
Clearly these are again divergent economies with very different economic
backgrounds (Figures 6.7 and 6.8). Many members of the group still had very high
natural rates of population growth in the 1950's and I960', with Fiji having a
CBR 35 nearly 100% higher than Malta and 50% higher than Cyprus in 1968. This
partly explains why per capita performances diverge so dramatically (Figure 6.9).
Using market exchange rate data, average per capita income feil by nearly 20%
between 1951 and 1965 in Fiji and Mauritius whilst it grew by almost 100% in
Trinidad and Tobago in the same period 36 . The fortunes of the former two and to a
lesser extent that of Barbados, were then overwhelmingly tied to the fortunes of one
primary product: sugar. And the more rapid growth associated with Trinidad and
Tobago, another economy sharing a high CBR, was mostly because its fortunes
were tied to the export of another primary product, oil.
35
Crude Birth Rate, (average annual no. of live births per thousand).
36 IBRD 1971. World Tables 1971. World Bank Publications, Baltimore: John Hopkins University.
309