Overview: Agriculture, dominated by banana production, is the most important sector of the economy. The services sector, based mostly on a growing tourist industry, is also important. The government has been relatively unsuccessful at introducing new industries, and high unemployment rates of 35%-40% continue.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $215 million (1992 est.)

National product real growth rate: 6.5% (1992 est.)

National product per capita: $2,000 (1992 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.3% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: 35%-40% (1992 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $62 million
expenditures: $67 million, including capital expenditures of $21 million (1990 est.)

Exports: $77.5 million (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities: bananas, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch, tennis racquets
partners: UK 54%, CARICOM 34%, US 10%

Imports: $118.6 million (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels
partners: US 36%, CARICOM 21%, UK 18%, Trinidad and Tobago 13%

External debt: $62.6 million (1992)

Industrial production: growth rate 0% (1989); accounts for 8% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 16,600 kW
production: 64 million kWh
consumption per capita: 555 kWh (1992)

Industries: food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch

Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GDP and 60% of labor force; provides bulk of exports; products - bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, hogs, goats; small fish catch used locally

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe

Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $11 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $81 million

Currency: 1 EC dollar (EC$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1 - 2.70 (fixed rate since 1976)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.