[24] At the time of the Cuban Revolution of 1953–1959, during the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, Cuba's GDP per capita was ranked 7th of 47 Latin American economies.

"[27] The socialist revolution was followed by the ongoing United States embargo against Cuba, described as "the oldest and most comprehensive US economic sanctions regime against any country in the world.

Described by economists as "a relatively highly developed Latin American export economy" in 1959 and the early 1960s, Cuba's fundamental economic structure changed very little from the Revolution to 1990.

[30] Although Cuba belonged to the high-income countries of Latin America since the 1870s, income inequality was high, accompanied by capital outflows to foreign investors.

[38] Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista had plans to line the Malecon, Havana's famous walkway by the water, with hotels and casinos to attract even more tourists.

[42] Days later in response, the United States cut the Cuban sugar quota completely; Eisenhower was quoted saying "This action amounts to economic sanctions against Cuba.

[39]: 57 In 1970 as part of the Revolutionary Offensive economic campaign, Fidel Castro attempted to motivate the Cuban people to harvest 10 million tons of sugar, in Spanish known as La Zafra, to increase their exports and grow their economy.

[45] In July 1970, after the harvest was over, Castro took responsibility for the failure, but later that same year, shifted the blame toward the Sugar Industry Minister saying "Those technocrats, geniuses, super-scientists assured me that they knew what to do to produce the ten million tons.

A Canadian Medical Association Journal paper claimed, "The famine in Cuba during the Special Period was caused by political and economic factors similar to the ones that caused a famine in North Korea in the mid-1990s because both countries were run by authoritarian regimes that denied ordinary people the food to which they were entitled to when the public food distribution collapsed and priority was given to the elite classes and the military.

"[50] Other reports painted an equally dismal picture, describing Cubans having to resort to eating anything they could find, from Havana Zoo animals to domestic cats.

[51] But although the collapse of centrally planned economies in the Soviet Union and other countries of the Eastern bloc subjected Cuba to severe economic difficulties, which led to a drop in calories per day from 3052 in 1989 to 2600 in 2006, mortality rates were not strongly affected thanks to the priority given on maintaining a social safety net.

[52] The government undertook several reforms to stem excess liquidity, increase labor incentives, and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services.

To alleviate the economic crisis, the government introduced a few market-oriented reforms, including opening to tourism, allowing foreign investment, legalizing the U.S. dollar, and authorizing self-employment for some 150 occupations.

Reflecting on the Special Period, Cuban president Fidel Castro later admitted that many mistakes had been made, "The country had many economists, and it is not my intention to criticize them, but I would like to ask why we hadn't discovered earlier that maintaining our levels of sugar production would be impossible.

[64] In 2008, Raúl Castro's administration hinted that the purchase of computers, DVD players, and microwaves would become legal;[needs update] however, monthly wages remain less than 20 U.S.

The brothers encouraged the development of a cooperative variant of socialism - where the state plays a less active role in the economy - and the formation of worker-owned co-operatives and self-employment enterprises.

A nationwide scientific survey shows that social inequalities have become increasingly visible in everyday life and that the Afro-Cuban population is structurally disadvantaged.

[74] In February 2019, Cuban voters approved a new constitution granting the right to private property and greater access to free markets while also maintaining Cuba's status as a socialist state.

The 14 countries party to the agreement were: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

The regime viewed the agreement favorably to resolve the long-standing issues and build business confidence, increasing direct foreign investment and as a preliminary step to gaining access to credit lines in Europe.

Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas wrote a letter to Odile Renaud-Basso, president of the Paris Club, noting that Cuba was aware that "circumstances dictated that we were not able to honour our commitments with certain creditor countries as agreed in the multilateral Minute signed by the parties in December 2015".

One of the issues the Energy Revolution program faces comes from Cuba's power production suffering from the absence of investment and the ongoing trade sanctions imposed by the United States.

In October 2024, the entire country suffered a multiday electricity blackout when the Antonio Guiteras power plant failed and efforts to restart the grid were not successful.

[96] The passage of Decree-Law 345 in 2019 permits Cubans to purchase photovoltaic solar panels for private use and to sell surplus energy to state company Unión Eléctrica.

in 2023, Canada receives the largest share of Cuban exports (30.6%),[116] 70 to 80% of which go through Indiana Finance BV, a company owned by the Van 't Wout family, who have close personal ties with Fidel Castro.

To capture the hard currency flowing into the island through tourism and remittances – estimated at $500–800 million annually – the government set up state-run "dollar stores" throughout Cuba that sold "luxury" food, household, and clothing items, compared with necessities, which could be bought using national pesos.

In 2009, Raúl Castro increased minimum pensions by 2 dollars, which he said was to recompense for those who have "dedicated a great part of their lives to working ... and who remain firm in defense of socialism".

The government leaders recognized that the new measure was unpopular but necessary to contain the flight of capital to other countries, such as Panama, where Cuban citizens traveled and imported items to resell on the island.

On 1 January 2021, the government launched the "Tarea Ordenamiento" (Ordering Task), previously announced on national television by President Miguel Díaz Canel and Gen. Raúl Castro, the then-first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party.

[136] Because of this reliance, the most recent economic crisis in Venezuela, with inflation nearing 800% and GDP shrinking by 19% in 2016, Cuba is not receiving their amount of payment and heavily subsidized oil.