Saint Kitts & Nevis/

The economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis is heavily dependent upon tourism revenues, which has replaced sugar, the traditional mainstay of the 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, such as tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking. More than 200,000 tourists visited the islands in 2009. Like other tourist destinations in the Caribbean, St. Kitts and Nevis is vulnerable to damage from natural disasters and shifts in tourism demand. The current government is constrained by one of the world’s highest public debt burdens equivalent to roughly 185% of GDP, largely attributable to public enterprise losses.

$719.5 million (2010 est.)

$730.5 million (2009 est.)

$772.7 million (2008 est.)

$562 million (2010 est.)

-1.5% (2010 est.)

-5.5% (2009 est.)

4.6% (2008 est.)

$14,400 (2010 est.)

$14,800 (2009 est.)

$15,700 (2008 est.)

18,170 (June 1995)

4.5% (1997)

NA%

185% of GDP (2009 est.)

4.5% (2007 est.)

6.5% (31 December 2009)

6.5% (31 December 2008)

8.75% (31 December 2009 est.)

8.75% (31 December 2008 est.)

$94.45 million (31 December 2009)

$93.23 million (31 December 2008)

$823.8 million (31 December 2009)

$787.8 million (31 December 2008)

$790.8 million (31 December 2008 est.)

$782.4 million (31 December 2007 est.)

$648 million (31 December 2009)

$595.2 million (31 December 2008)

$439.7 million (31 December 2007)

sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish

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

NA%

130 million kWh (2007 est.)

120.9 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

1,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

1,225 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

-$163 million (2007 est.)

$84 million (2006)

machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco

US 62.3%, Canada 7.93%, Azerbaijan 6.72% (2009)

$383 million (2006)

machinery, manufactures, food, fuels

US 43.37%, Trinidad and Tobago 15.26%, Italy 11.83% (2009)

$314 million (2004)

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