HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC):

Wealthy Bermuda can boast the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the world, following the release of new government figures, the Royal Gazette claimed on Saturday.

The island's total GDP - the market value of all the goods and services produced in a year - rose by 9.1 per cent in 2005, driven upwards chiefly by the expansion of the international business sector.

Bermuda's total GDP was estimated at US$4.857 billion or US$76,403 per head in an island of 65,000 residents.

The Gazette said that according to the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook website, that puts Bermuda at the top of the GDP per capita global league table, with second-place Luxembourg more than US$10,000 behind in 2005.

In comparison, the United States had a GDP per capita over the same year of $41,600, Canada $33,900 and the United Kingdom $30,100.

Substantial rises

The figures showed substantial rises in the output of construction, tourism, business services and real estate, as well as international business. But the output of the retail sector saw only a slight rise -after a decline after inflation was taken into account.

A loss of 218 retails jobs reflected the closure of Front Street department store, Trimingham's, after 163 years, and the sector was also hit by a 14 per cent increase in overseas spending by residents.

A statement from government's Economic Statistics and National Accounts Division said international business, the biggest employer on the island, had contributed more than $1 billion directly to the GDP, as output increased by 13.9 per cent.

That figure was bolstered by a wave of start-up insurance companies, established here in the wake of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The storms caused billions of dollars' worth of damage and boosted demand for reinsurance.