Economy of the Isle of Man
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Offshore banking, manufacturing, and tourism form key sectors of the economy of the Isle of Man, a British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea.
The government's policy of offering incentives to high-technology companies and financial institutions to locate on the Island has expanded employment opportunities in high-income industries. As a result, agriculture and fishing, once the mainstays of the economy, now make declining contributions to the Island's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Banking and other services now contribute the great bulk of GDP.
Trade is mostly with the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man has free access to European Union markets for goods, but only has restricted access for services, people, or financial products.
The Isle of Man is a low tax economy with no capital gains tax, wealth tax, stamp duty, death duty or inheritance tax[1] and income tax rates of 10% and 18%; corporation tax is at 0%.[2][3]
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[edit] Gambling
The Isle of Man has also recently entered the online gambling industry. In 2005 PokerStars, one of the world's largest online poker sites, relocated its headquarters to the Isle of Man from Costa Rica. In 2006, RNG Gaming a large gaming software developer of P2P tournaments and Get21, a multiplayer online blackjack site, based their corporate offices on the island.
[edit] Film making
The Manx government also promotes island locations for making films by contributing to the production costs. Among the most successful productions funded in part by the Isle of Man film industry were Waking Ned, where the Manx countryside stood in for rural Ireland, and films like Stormbreaker, Shergar, Tom Brown's Schooldays, I Capture the Castle, The Libertine, Island at War (TV series), Five Children and It, Colour me Kubrick, Sparkle, and others. Other films that have been filmed on the Isle of Man include Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Keeping Mum.[4] DekuScrubby [1] is perhaps one of the island's most avid amateur film makers, posting his videos on YouTube.
[edit] Radio and television
The British television show Top Gear frequently tests high-powered cars on the island because many of the rural roads do not have speed limits.
[edit] Electricity
Since 1999, the Isle of Man has received electricity through the world's longest submarine AC cable, the 90 kV Isle of Man to England Interconnector, as well as from a natural gas power station in Douglas, an oil power station in Peel and a small hydro-electric power station in Sulby Glen.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $2.113 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: NA%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $28,500 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1%
industry: 13%
services: 86% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.6% (2003 est.)
Labor force: 39,690(2001)
Labour force - by occupation: agriculture, forestry and fishing 3%, manufacturing 11%, construction 10%, transport 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: 0.6% (2004 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $485 million
expenditures: $463 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.)
Industries: financial services, light manufacturing, tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (1996/97)
Electricity - production: 329 GWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 287 GWh (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 Isle of Man 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
