The Cuban economy is fairly typical of the small tropical, primary producing, import-oriented economies which comprise the majority of the world’s under-developed nations. In terms of national income per head the Cuban economy before the revolution was stagnant rather than poor. Eric Williams [24] states that the national per capita income in 1958 was $500.00 ranking third in Latin America and well above average for third world countries. But for thirty years the per capita had grown very little and distribution of income remained highly unequal particularly in extremes between the rural areas and Havana. The disparity as exemplified in income distribution could also be found in such features as housing, medical services, diet, sanitation (water and toilets) and electricity.
The education profile of the Cuban population before the revolution reveals many of the same features as the economy. The availability of education at secondary and university levels was well above the standards of many under-developed countries but the proportion of each age group attending school had changed very little since the 1920’s.