Saint Lucia Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries, with a surge in foreign direct investment in 2006, attributed to the construction of several tourism projects. Tourism is the main source of foreign exchange, with more than 700,000 arrivals in 2005. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area, and the government is trying to revitalize the banana industry. Saint Lucia is vulnerable to a variety of external shocks including declines in European Union banana preferences, volatile tourism receipts, natural disasters, and dependence on foreign oil. High debt servicing obligations constrain the KING administration's ability to respond to adverse external shocks. Economic fundamentals remain solid, even though unemployment needs to be reduced.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$1.179 billion (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$825 million (2005)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.1% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$4,800 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 15%
services: 80% (2005 est.)

Labor force:
43,800 (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 21.7%
industry: 24.7%
services: 53.6% (2002 est.)

Unemployment rate:
20% (2003 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.9% (2005 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $141.2 million
expenditures: $146.7 million (2000 est.)

Agriculture - products:
bananas, coconuts, vegetables, citrus, root crops, cocoa

Industries:
clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, tourism; lime processing, coconut processing

Industrial production growth rate:
-8.9% (1997 est.)

Electricity - production:
304.2 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
282.9 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2005)

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

Oil - consumption:
2,700 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
2,678 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:
$288 million (2006)

Exports - commodities:
bananas 41%, clothing, cocoa, vegetables, fruits, coconut oil

Exports - partners:
France 69.7%, US 10.2%, UK 8.8% (2006)

Imports:
$791 million (2006)

Imports - partners:
US 21.1%, Trinidad and Tobago 14.9%, Italy 12.3%, France 11.8%, Venezuela 7.2%, UK 6.9%, Netherlands 5.8% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$11.06 million (2005)

Debt - external:
$257 million (2004)

Currency (code):
East Caribbean dollar (XCD)

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