Saint Lucia Economy
Is Saint Lucia a wealthy country?
The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries. Tourism is Saint Lucia's main source of jobs and income - accounting for 65% of GDP - and the island's main source of foreign exchange earnings. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area. Crops such as bananas, mangos, and avocados continue to be grown for export, but St. Lucia's once solid banana industry has been devastated by strong competition.
Saint Lucia is vulnerable to a variety of external shocks, including volatile tourism receipts, natural disasters, and dependence on foreign oil. Furthermore, high public debt - 77% of GDP in 2012 - and high debt servicing obligations constrain the CHASTANET administration's ability to respond to adverse external shocks.
St. Lucia has experienced anemic growth since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, largely because of a slowdown in tourism - airlines cut back on their routes to St. Lucia in 2012. Also, St. Lucia introduced a value added tax in 2012 of 15%, becoming the last country in the Eastern Caribbean to do so. In 2013, the government introduced a National Competitiveness and Productivity Council to address St. Lucia's high public wages and lack of productivity.
Saint Lucia Economy Data
What is the GDP of Saint Lucia?
| Currency Name and Code | East Caribbean Dollar (XCD) |
| GDP - Gross Domestic Product (PPP) | $2,250,000,000 (USD) |
| GDP - official exchange rate | $1,438,000,000 (USD) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 1.8% |
| GDP Per Capita | $12,000.00 (USD) |
| GDP by Sector- agriculture | 2.7% |
| GDP by Sector- Industry | 15.3% |
| GDP by Sector- services | 82.1% |
| GDP - composition, by end use |
household consumption: 52.4% government consumption: 19.3% investment in fixed capital: 32.1% investment in inventories: 0.1% exports of goods and services: 51.7% imports of goods and services: -55.6% |
| Inflation Rate | 1.9% |
| Labor Force | 79,700 |
| Labor Force By Occupation- agriculture | 21.7% |
| Labor Force By Occupation- industry | 24.7% |
| Labor Force By Occupation- services | 53.6% |
| Unemployment Rate | 20% |
| Fiscal Year | 1 April - 31 March |
| Annual Budget | $230,900,000 (USD) |
| Budget Surplus or Deficit - percent of GDP | -2.7% |
| Taxes and other revenues - percent of GDP | 13.4% |
| Major Industries | clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, tourism, lime processing, coconut processing |
| Agriculture Products | bananas, coconuts, vegetables, citrus, root crops, cocoa |
| Exchange Rate per US Dollar | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) |
| Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate | 9.3% |