You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (January 2017) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 6,168 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Économie de La Réunion]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|fr|Économie de La Réunion}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

The economy of Réunion has traditionally been based on agriculture. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been^{[ when?]} pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts^{[ when?]} to more than 40% of the labour force.

The gap in Réunion between the well-off and the poor is large and accounts for persistent social tensions. ^[1] The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrated the seriousness of socio-economic tensions. ^[2]

In 2007 the GDP per capita of Réunion at nominal exchange rates, not at PPP, was €17,146 (US$23,501). ^[3] However, while this is exceptionally high compared with its neighbours in Madagascar and the African continent, it is only 57% of the 30,140 euros per capita GDP of metropolitan France in 2007.Reunion Island is one of the French departments with the highest poverty rate with 42% of the population living below the poverty line.  ^[4] The total GDP of the island was US$18.8 billion in 2007. ^[3]

Other export products

• Essential oil (mainly vetyver and rose scent geranium)
• Bourbon vanilla
• Fish & seafood, mainly tuna, swordfish and Patagonian toothfish

Statistics

• Currency: 1 euro ( sign: €; code: EUR) = 100 Cent
• Exchange rates: See: Euro exchange rate
• Fiscal year: calendar year

See also

• Economy of France in: French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna
• Taxation in France
• Economic history of France
• Poverty in France

References

Media related to Economy of Réunion at Wikimedia Commons

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