Economy - overview:
Bananas and other agricultural products remain the staple of this lower-middle income country's economy. Although tourism and other services have been growing moderately in recent years, the government has been ineffective at introducing new industries. Unemployment remains high, and economic growth hinges upon seasonal variations in the agricultural and tourism sectors. Tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002, and tourism in the Eastern Caribbean has suffered low arrivals following 11 September 2001. Saint Vincent is home to a small offshore banking sector, but its restrictive secrecy laws have come under international review. As of June 2001, it remained on the Financial Action Task Force's list of noncooperative jurisdictions. Saint Vincent is also the largest producer of marijuana in the Eastern Caribbean and is increasingly being used as a transshipment point for illegal narcotics from South America.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $339 million (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
-0.5% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,900 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10%
industry: 26%
services: 64% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
-0.4% (2001 est.)
Labor force:
67,000 (1984 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 26%, industry 17%, services 57% (1980 est.)
Unemployment rate:
22% (1997 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $94.6 million
expenditures: $85.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries:
food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch
Industrial production growth rate:
-0.9% (1997 est.)
Electricity - production:
92.48 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 69.3%
hydro: 30.7%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
86 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
1,250 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish
Exports:
$53.7 million (2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch, tennis racquets
Exports - partners:
Caricom countries 49%, UK 16%, US 10% (2001)
Imports:
$185.6 million (2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels
Imports - partners:
US 36%, Caricom countries 28%, UK 13% (2001 est.)
Debt - external:
$167.2 million (2000)
Economic aid - recipient:
$47.5 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (1998)
Currency:
East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Currency code:
XCD
Exchange rates:
East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000), 2.7 (1999), 2.7 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
NOTE: The information regarding Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
