Economy—overview:The St. Vincent economy is heavily dependent on agriculture. Bananas alone account for upwards of 60% of the work force and 50% of merchandise exports. Such reliance on a single crop makes the economy vulnerable to external factors. St. Vincent's banana growers benefited from preferential access to the European market. In view of the European Union's announced phase-out of this preferred access, economic diversification is a priority.Tourism has grown to become a very important part of the economy. In 1993, tourism supplanted banana exports as the chief source of foreign exchange. The Grenadines have become a favourite of the up-market yachting crowd. The trend toward increasing tourism revenues will likely continue. The country belongs to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which has signed a framework agreement with the United States to promote trade and investment in the region. 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.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $342 million (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 0.2% (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.)
Labour force: 67,000 (1984 est.)
Labour 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: 95 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 67.19%
hydro: 32.81%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)
Electricity - consumption: 88.35 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)
Agriculture - products: bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish
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 $34.5 million (1998)
Currency: 1 East Caribbean dollar (EC$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1 - 2.7000 (fixed rate since 1976)
Fiscal year: calendar year
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