Saint Kitts and Nevis Economy Profile 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)

$520 million (2007 est.)

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)

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.)

Labor force

18,170 (June 1995)

Unemployment rate

4.5% (1997)

Budget

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

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 - imports

871.6 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - exports

0 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.)

Agriculture - products

sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish

Exports

$84 million (2006)

Exports - commodities

machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco

Exports - partners

US 62%, Canada 9.4%, Netherlands 6.6%, Azerbaijan 5% (2006)

Imports

$383 million (2006)

Imports - commodities

machinery, manufactures, food, fuels

Imports - partners

US 48.9%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.1%, Spain 4.6%, UK 4.5% (2006)

Debt - external

$314 million (2004)

Economic aid - recipient

$3.52 million (2005)

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)

Fiscal year

calendar year