Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Economy 1997

Economy - overview Agriculture, dominated by banana production, is the most important sectorof this lower middle income economy. The services sector, based mostly ona growing tourist industry, is also important. The government has been relativelyunsuccessful at introducing new industries, and high unemployment rates of35%-40% continue. The continuing dependence on a single crop represents thebiggest obstacle to the islands' development; tropical storms wiped out substantialportions of crops in both 1994 and 1995. The tourism sector has considerablepotential for development over the next decade.

GDP purchasing power parity - $259 million (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 3% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $2,190 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 12%
industry: 18%
services: 70% (1995 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 3% (1996 est.)

Labor force
total: 67,000 (1984 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 26%, industry 17%, services 57% (1980 est.)

Unemployment rate 35%-40% (1994 est.)

Budget
revenues: $80 million
expenditures: $118 million, including capital expenditures of $39 million (1996 est.)

Industries food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch

Industrial production growth rate NA%

Electricity - capacity 20,000 kW (1993)

Electricity - production 61.6 million kWh (1993)

Electricity - consumption per capita 480 kWh (1993)

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

Exports
total value: $55 million (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities : bananas, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch, tennis racquets
partners: Caricom countries 57%, UK 29%, US 9% (1994)

Imports
total value : $122 million (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, mineralsand fuels
partners: US 35%, Caricom countries 27%, UK 12% (1994)

Debt - external $93 million (1996 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency 1 EC dollar (EC$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1 - 2.7000 (February 1997; fixedrate since 1976)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.