Editing Bermuda (section)

==Economy==
{{main|Economy of Bermuda}}
[[File:Front Street, Hamilton, Bermuda.jpg|thumb|Front Street, Hamilton]]
[[File:Bermuda electricity production.svg|thumb|Bermuda electricity production by source]]
Banking and other financial services now form the largest sector of the economy at about 85% of GDP, with tourism being the second largest industry at 5%.<ref name="World Factbook" /><ref name=Smithsonian/> Industrial and agriculture activities occur; however, these are on a limited scale and Bermuda is heavily reliant on imports.<ref name="World Factbook" /> Living standards are high and as of 2019 Bermuda has the 6th-highest GDP per capita in the world.<ref name="World Factbook" />

===1890s to 1920s: economy severely affected by lily virus===
Early [[Lilium longiflorum|Easter Lily bulb]] exports to New York—then vital financially for Bermuda—became badly diseased from the late 19th century to the mid-1920s. [[Lawrence Ogilvie]], the Bermuda Department of Agriculture [[plant pathologist]] saved the industry by identifying the problem as a virus (not aphid damage as previously thought) and instituting controls in the fields and packing houses. Exports showed a marked improvement: from 23 cases of lily bulbs in 1918, to 6,043 cases in 1927 from the 204 lily fields then in existence.<ref>October 1928 ''Monthly Bulletin of the Bermuda Department of Agriculture and Fisheries'' article by [[Lawrence Ogilvie]]</ref> Still in his 20s at the time, Ogilvie was professionally honoured by an article in [[Nature (journal)|''Nature'' magazine]].<ref>[[Nature magazine|Nature]] number 2997, 9 April 1927, page 52</ref> {{citation needed span|date=May 2024|text=The lily export trade continued to flourish until the 1940s when the Japanese captured much of the market.}}

===Currency===
In 1970, the country switched its currency from the [[Bermudian pound]] to the [[Bermudian dollar]], which is [[Fixed exchange rate|pegged]] and or [[Financial capital|capital]] at par with the US dollar. US notes and coins are used interchangeably with Bermudian notes and coins within the islands for most practical purposes; however, banks levy an exchange rate fee for the purchase of US dollars with Bermudian dollars for those going out of the islands for external purposes.<ref>[http://www.bm.butterfieldgroup.com/Rates/Foreign_Exchange/ Bank of Butterfield Exchange Rate Page]. Butterfieldbank.bm. Retrieved 15 August 2012. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809021133/http://www.bm.butterfieldgroup.com/Rates/Foreign_Exchange/ |date=9 August 2012 }}</ref> The [[Bermuda Monetary Authority]] is the issuing authority for all banknotes and coins and regulates financial institutions.

===Finance===
{{main|Taxation in Bermuda}}

Bermuda is an [[offshore financial centre]], which results from its minimal standards of business regulation/laws and direct taxation on personal or corporate income. It has one of the highest consumption taxes in the world and taxes all imports in lieu of an income tax system. Bermuda's consumption tax is equivalent to local income tax to local residents and funds government and infrastructure expenditures. The local tax system depends upon import duties, payroll taxes and [[consumption tax]]es. Foreign private individuals cannot easily open bank accounts or subscribe to mobile phone or internet services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 August 2012 |title=US Commercial Service: Doing Business in Bermuda |url=https://photos.state.gov/libraries/hamilton/19452/pdfs/CCG2011final.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112916/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/hamilton/19452/pdfs/CCG2011final.pdf |archive-date=6 October 2017 |access-date=24 June 2017 |publisher=Photos.state.gov}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=January 2020}}

Having no corporate income tax, Bermuda is a popular [[Tax haven|tax avoidance location]]. Google, for example, is known to have shifted over $10&nbsp;billion in revenue to its Bermuda subsidiary using the [[Double Irish arrangement|Double Irish]] and [[Dutch Sandwich]] tax avoidance strategies, reducing its 2011 tax liability by $2&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Drucker |first=Jesse |date=15 December 2012 |title=Google Revenues Sheltered in No-Tax Bermuda Soar to $10 Billion |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-10/google-revenues-sheltered-in-no-tax-bermuda-soar-to-10-billion.html |url-status=live |access-date=5 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110212552/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-10/google-revenues-sheltered-in-no-tax-bermuda-soar-to-10-billion.html |archive-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> The [[Bermuda Black Hole]] is another tax avoidance method in which untaxed profits end up in Bermuda.

Large numbers of leading international insurance companies operate in Bermuda.<ref>[http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2006/10/25/73563.htm "Hiscox Prepares Move to Bermuda Holding Company"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154943/http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2006/10/25/73563.htm |date=30 September 2007 }}, ''Insurance Journal'', 25 October 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2012.</ref> Those internationally owned and operated businesses that are physically based in Bermuda (around four hundred) are represented by the [[Association of Bermuda International Companies]] (ABIC). In total, over 15,000 exempted or international companies are currently registered with the [[Registrar of Companies]] in Bermuda, most of which hold no office space or employees.

The [[Bermuda Stock Exchange]] (BSX) specialises in listing and trading of capital market instruments such as equities, debt issues, funds (including hedge fund structures) and depository receipt programmes. The BSX is a full member of the [[World Federation of Exchanges]] and is located in an [[OECD]] member nation. It also has Approved Stock Exchange status under Australia's Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) taxation rules and Designated Investment Exchange status by the UK's Financial Services Authority.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bermuda Stock Exchange |url=http://www.bsx.com/NewsArticle.php?ArticleID=1100790647 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921232748/https://www.bsx.com/NewsArticle.php?ArticleID=1100790647 |archive-date=21 September 2022 |access-date=16 February 2022 |website=www.bsx.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bermuda Stock Exchange |url=https://bsx.com//NewsArticle.php?ArticleID=1100790697 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921232749/https://www.bsx.com/NewsArticle.php?ArticleID=1100790697 |archive-date=21 September 2022 |access-date=16 February 2022 |website=bsx.com}}</ref>

Four banks operate in Bermuda,<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of Banks in Bermuda |url=http://thebanks.eu/banks-by-country/Bermuda |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006131155/http://thebanks.eu/banks-by-country/Bermuda |archive-date=6 October 2014 |access-date=3 October 2014 |website=thebanks.eu}}</ref> having consolidated total assets of $24.3&nbsp;billion (March 2014).<ref>[http://www.bma.bm/publications/QUARTERLY%20BANKING%20DIGEST/Q1%202014%20Quarterly%20Banking%20Digest.pdf Quarterly Banking Digest, Q1 2014] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007000622/http://www.bma.bm/publications/QUARTERLY%20BANKING%20DIGEST/Q1%202014%20Quarterly%20Banking%20Digest.pdf |date=7 October 2014 }}. bma.bm. Retrieved 26 April 2017.</ref>

===Tourism===
[[File:BDA Bermuda.jpg|thumb|One of Bermuda's pink-sand beaches at Astwood Park]]
[[File:Harrington Sound, Bermuda.jpg|thumb|View of Harrington Sound from behind Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo]]
Tourism is Bermuda's second-largest industry, with the island attracting over half a million visitors annually, of whom more than 80% are from the United States.<ref name="World Factbook" /> Other significant sources of visitors are from Canada and the United Kingdom. However, the sector is vulnerable to external shocks, such as the 2008 recession.<ref name="World Factbook" />

===Housing===
The affordability of housing became a prominent issue during Bermuda's business peak in 2005 but has softened with the decline of Bermuda's real estate prices. [[The World Factbook]] lists the average cost of a house in June 2003 as $976,000,<ref name="cia">{{Cite web |last=Central Intelligence Agency |author-link=Central Intelligence Agency |year=2009 |title=Bermuda |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bermuda/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109202200/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bermuda |archive-date=9 January 2021 |access-date=23 January 2010 |publisher=[[The World Factbook]]}}</ref> while real estate agencies have claimed that this figure had risen to between $1.6&nbsp;million<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kent |first=Jonathan |date=10 January 2007 |title=Average cost of houses hits $1.6m |work=[[The Royal Gazette (Bermuda)|The Royal Gazette]] |url=http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20070110/NEWS/301109911 |access-date=4 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905065237/http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20070110/NEWS/301109911 |archive-date=5 September 2018}}</ref> and $1.845&nbsp;million by 2007,<ref>Ebbin, Meredith (2 August 2007), [http://www.bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=34741&TM=49374.21 "Average family home now $1.8m"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807134008/http://bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=34741&TM=49374.21 |date=7 August 2011 }}, ''Bermuda Sun''.</ref> though such high figures have been disputed.<ref>Kent, Jonathan (12 January 2007), [https://archive.today/20130202022405/http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d7161330030024 "$1.6m average house price? It's a distortion says Sir John"], ''The Royal Gazette''. {{dead link|date=September 2018}}</ref>