Saint Kitts and Nevis Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
Sugar was the traditional mainstay of the Saint Kitts economy until the 1970s. Following the 2005 harvest, the government closed the sugar industry after decades of losses of 3-4% of GDP annually. To compensate for employment losses, the government has embarked on a program to diversify the agricultural sector and to stimulate other sectors of the economy. Activities such as tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking have assumed larger roles in the economy and have contributed to the recent robust growth. Tourism revenues are now the chief source of the islands' foreign exchange; about 341,800 tourists visited Nevis in 2005. The current government is constrained by a high debt burden, public debt reached 190% of GDP by the end of 2005, largely attributable to public enterprise losses.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$726 million (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$453 million (2005)

GDP - real growth rate:
6% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$8,200 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 25.8%
services: 70.7% (2001)

Labor force:
18,170 (June 1995)

Unemployment rate:
4.5% (1997)

Population below poverty line:
NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.7% (2005 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $89.7 million
expenditures: $128.2 million (2003 est.)

Agriculture - products:
sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish

Industries:
tourism, cotton, salt, copra, clothing, footwear, beverages

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

Electricity - production:
125 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
116.3 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
900 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
871.6 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Exports:
$84 million (2006)

Exports - commodities:
machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco

Exports - partners:
US 61.9%, Canada 9.4%, Netherlands 6.6%, Azerbaijan 5% (2006)

Imports:
$383 million (2006)

Imports - partners:
US 49.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.3%, UK 4.5% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$3.52 million (2005)

Debt - external:
$314 million (2004)

Currency (code):
East Caribbean dollar (XCD)

Exchange rates:
East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2007), 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003)