- You are here:
- Home
- › Travel & living abroad
- › Travel advice by country
- › Country profiles
- › North & Central America and Caribbean
- › St Kitts and Nevis
North & Central America and Caribbean
Saint Christopher and Nevis |
|
|
Last reviewed: 14 January 2009 |
Country information
ECONOMY
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: (2007 at market prices) US$428.74 million
GDP per head: (2005 at market prices) US$8,695
Annual Growth: (2007 est) 4.7%
Inflation: Consumer Prices 4.3% (2007)
Major industries: Tourism, light manufacturing, agricultural.
Major trading partners: United States, UK, CARICOM countries
Export partners: US 68.5%, UK 22.3%, Caricom countries 5.5% (1995 est.)
Import partners:US 42.4%, Caricom countries 17.2%, UK 11.3%(1995 est.)
St Kitts and Nevis has a small highly open economy. Historically sugar was an important export. In recent years there has been considerable diversification into tourism, financial services and light manufacturing. Although the two islands have been subjected to external shocks, including a number of destructive hurricanes, economic performance has been marked by sustained and almost uninterrupted growth.
Economic growth in 2006 was 4.4% driven mainly by a surge in construction, strong gains in agricultural and manufacturing output, and continued growth in tourism and services. Growth is estimated to have slowed slightly in 2007, to 3.1%, as construction demand slowed following a spike in 2006.
Tourism is a major source of foreign exchange earnings. There were 117,300 stopover arrivals on the two islands in 2007, nearly two-thirds of which were tourists from the US, one-quarter from the rest of the Caribbean, and around 5% from Canada. There were also over 251,000 cruise-ship passenger arrivals in 2007, well above levels in the two previous years. (Source EIU).
The sugar industry, which operated at a loss, was closed in July 2005. Other production of agricultural goods and services is on a comparatively small scale but rose by 3.8% in 2006. The resulting job losses within the sugar industry was a worry for the government. Re-training has been given and alternative employment is available in tourism. International experts have expressed concern about the sizeable budget deficit and the levels of public debt, which represents 168.6 % of GDP, one of the highest ratios in the in the world However, St Kitts services the debt.
