Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Economy - 2006

Economy - overview:
Economic growth in this lower-middle-income country 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 and has moved to adopt international regulatory standards. Saint Vincent is also a producer of marijuana and is being used as a transshipment point for illegal narcotics from South America.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$342 million (2002 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
NA

GDP - real growth rate:
0.7% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,900 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10%
industry: 26%
services: 64% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
67,000 (1984 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 26%
industry: 17%
services: 57% (1980 est.)

Unemployment rate:
15% (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.)

Budget:
revenues: $94.6 million
expenditures: $85.8 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Agriculture - products:
bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish

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

Industrial production growth rate:
-0.9% (1997 est.)

Electricity - production:
95 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
88.35 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:
1,300 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2003 est.)

Exports:
$37 million (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch; tennis racquets

Exports - partners:
UK 33.5%, Barbados 13.1%, Saint Lucia 11.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 9.9%, Antigua and Barbuda 8.3%, US 5.3%, Grenada 5.3%, Dominica 4.1% (2004)

Imports:
$225 million (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels

Imports - partners:
US 37.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 21.3%, UK 10.5% (2004)

Debt - external:
$167.2 million (2000)

Economic aid - recipient:
$47.5 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (1998)

Currency (code):
East Caribbean dollar (XCD)

Exchange rates:
East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001)