Economy - overview Agriculture, dominated by banana production, is the most important sector of this lower middle income 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. The continuing dependence on a single crop represents the biggest obstacle to the islands' development; tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in both 1994 and 1995. The tourism sector has considerable potential for development over the next decade.

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

GDP - real growth rate 1% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $2,200 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 10.6%
industry: 17.5%
services: 71.9% (1996 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 3.6% (1996)

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 0.3% (1995 est.)

Electricity - capacity 14,000 kW (1995)

Electricity - production 64 million kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 545 kWh (1995)

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

Exports
total value: $46 million (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch, tennis racquets
partners: Caricom countries 49%, UK 16%, US 10% (1995)

Imports
total value: $127 million (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels
partners: US 36%, Caricom countries 28%, UK 13% (1995)

Debt - external NA

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency 1 EC dollar (EC$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1 - 2.7000 (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 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.