Virgin Islands:

Economy - overview: (USVI) Tourism is the primary economic activity, accounting for 80% of GDP and employment. The islands normally host 2 million visitors a year. The manufacturing sector consists of petroleum refining, textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and watch assembly. The agricultural sector is small, with most food being imported. International business and financial services are small but growing components of the economy. One of the world's largest petroleum refineries is at Saint Croix. The islands are subject to substantial damage from storms. The government is working to improve fiscal discipline, to support construction projects in the private sector, to expand tourist facilities, to reduce crime, and to protect the environment.
(BVI) The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, made the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the US dollar as its currency since 1959.

GDP: purchasing power parity – USVI: $2.5 billion (2002 est.); BVI: $853.4 million (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: USVI: 2% (2002 est.); BVI: 1% (2002 est.) 

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity – USVI: $17,200 (2002 est.); BVI: $38,500 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

USVI: agriculture: 1%
industry: 19%
services: 80% (2003 est.)

BVI: agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 6.2%
services: 92% (1996 est.)

Population below poverty line: USVI & BVI: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

USVI & BVI: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): USVI: NA%; BVI: 2.5% (2003)

Labor force: USVI: 48,900 (2003 est.); BVI: 12,770 (2004)

Labor force - by occupation: USVI: agriculture: 1%, industry: 19%, services: 80% (2003 est.)

BVI: agriculture: NA%, industry: NA%, services: NA%

Unemployment rate: USVI: 9.3% (2003 est.);

BVI: 3% (1995)

Budget:

USVI: revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA

BVI: revenues: $121.5 million
expenditures: $115.5 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (1997)

Industries: USVI:  tourism, petroleum refining, watch assembly, rum distilling, construction, pharmaceuticals, textiles, electronics

BVI: tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center

Industrial production growth rate: USVI & BVI: NA%

Electricity - production: USVI: 1.04 billion kWh (2003);

BVI: 34.55 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption: USVI: 967.3 million kWh (2003);

BVI: 32.13 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports: UVSI & BVI: 0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports: USVI & BVI: 0 kWh (2003)

Agriculture - products: USVI:  fruit, vegetables, sorghum; Senepol cattle;

BVI:  fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish

Exports: USVI:  $NA

BVI: $25.3 million (2002)

Exports - commodities: 

USVI: refined petroleum products

BVI: rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand

Exports - partners: USVI: US, Puerto Rico

BVI: Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2004)

Imports: USVI: $NA; BVI: $187 million (2002 est.)

Imports - commodities:

USVI: crude oil, foodstuffs, consumer goods, building materials;

BVI: building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery

Imports - partners:
USVI: US, Puerto Rico;

BVI: Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2004)

Debt - external:

USVI: $NA;

BVI: $36.1 million (1997)

Economic aid - recipient:
USVI & BVI: $NA

Currency: USVI & BVI: 1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: US currency is used

Fiscal year: USVI:  1 October - 30 September;

BVI: 1 April - 31 March