SOURCES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC COUNTRIES

The paper presents the scale of and trends in economic growth in the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries in the years 2002-2016. The study covers 48 African, 16 Caribbean and 15 Pacific countries and is based on the data retrieved from the World Bank Database. During the analysed 15 years, five African countries and Cuba had average annual GDP per capita growth rates higher than 4.0%.On the other hand, more than twenty ACP countries recorded negative or very low average annual GDP per capita growth rates. GDP in the fastest growing ACP countries has been primarily generated through services and industry sectors. Services and agriculture sectors have contributed the most to GDP in the slowest growing ones. The poorest countries were highly dependent on agriculture which provided a living for the vast majority of their population. On the demand side, domestic private consumption was the main source of growth in the analysed countries. Many countries experienced a decline in the share of exports of goods and services in GDP. Several ACP countries sustained growth mainly because of foreign aid. Resource rich countries managed to attract foreign direct investment. In some fast growing ACP countries, economic growth resulted from the implementation of market-based economic policies and improvement of investment framework and in other countries, governments interventionist policies enhanced it. The slowest growing ACP countries have been affected by conflicts, internal political turmoil and suffered from climaterelated shocks. The vast majority of the analysed countries have to improve the business climate, governance, and control of corruption to maintain or accelerate economic growth.