As a proportion of GDP, the sector has so far declined from a position just under 7.6% of real GDP in 1998 to approximately 4.9% in 2009. At the same time, employment in the sector has fallen from about 10,900 persons in 1998 to approximately 6,800 in 2008. If we were to take a much longer view, the secular decline becomes even starker.
In 1980, for instance, the share of manufacturing in real economic activity was 11.8%, while the sector employed approximately 15,000 persons. Part of the reason for the secular decline may be related to the fact that the country has indeed become a service-based economy.