HAVANA, July 15, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Cuba's economy shrunk for the second consecutive year in 2024, contracting 1.1 percent, the communist island's economy ministry said Monday, warning on state TV of an "extremely complex scenario" ahead.

The country is battling its worst economic crisis in three decades due to a combination of US sanctions, economic mismanagement, and the Covid-19 pandemic that tanked its critical tourism sector, according to analysts.

The Caribbean country also faced two destructive storms last year, on top of dealing with repeated power blackouts and shortages of food, medicines, fuel and other essentials.

In 2023, the economy had contracted by 1.9 percent.

According to state TV, Minister Joaquin Alonso Vazquez briefed parliament Monday on the economic numbers, and President Miguel Diaz-Canel urged lawmakers to come up with plans to boost GDP growth.

"If we do not create wealth by producing under the conditions we have today, which are complex, there is no way to organize the economy," the broadcast quoted the president as saying.

Alonso Vazquez said the "intensification" of Washington's economic blockade under President Donald Trump represented an obstacle to economic recovery, as did a shortage of foreign currency, high foreign debt, and a lack of access to loans.