Saint Kitts and Nevis Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
Sugar was the traditional mainstay of the Saint Kitts economy until the 1970s. Although the crop still dominates the agricultural sector, activities such as tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking have assumed larger roles in the economy. As tourism revenues are now the chief source of the islands' foreign exchange, a decline in stopover tourist arrivals following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks has eroded government finances. The opening of a 1,000+ bed Marriott hotel in February 2003 was expected to bring in much-needed revenue.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $339 million (2002 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
-1.9% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $8,800 (2002 est.)

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

Population below poverty line:
NA% (1997 est.)

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.7% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
18,172 (June 1995)

Labor force - by occupation:
NA

Unemployment rate:
4.5% (1997)

Budget:
revenues: $89.7 million
expenditures: $128.2 million, including capital expenditures of $19.5 million (2003 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

Electricity - production:
100.3 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
93.26 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
710 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

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

Exports:
$70 million (2002 est.)

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

Exports - partners:
US 65.7%, Canada 7.1%, UK 7.1%, Portugal 5.7% (2002)

Imports:
$195 million (2002 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery, manufactures, food, fuels

Imports - partners:
US 39%, Trinidad and Tobago 15.4%, Canada 9.2%, UK 6.7%, Denmark 6.2% (2002)

Debt - external:
$171 million (2001)

Economic aid - recipient:
$8 million (2001)

Currency:
East Caribbean dollar (XCD)

Currency code:
XCD

Exchange rates:
East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000), 2.7 (1999)