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Caribbean Region: Review of Economic Growth and ... - USITC

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Domestic EconomySt. Vincent & the Grenadines: Selected domestic economyindicatorsMRY(2000–07)Middleincomeaverage,2006Inflation (%, 2005) 4 4.3Labor force participation rate, total(%, 2006)Gross fixed capital formation (%<strong>of</strong> GDP)Agricultural l<strong>and</strong> (% <strong>of</strong> l<strong>and</strong> area,2003)Irrigated l<strong>and</strong> (% <strong>of</strong> cropl<strong>and</strong>,2003)73 7339 2541 3573 18Fixed line <strong>and</strong> mobile phonesubscribers (per 1,000 people,2005)Number <strong>of</strong> ports <strong>and</strong> terminals,2007782 5871 naPaved roads (% <strong>of</strong> total, 2006) 70 naCategory 1 <strong>and</strong> 2 airports, 2007 0 naSource: WTO, TPR, Report by the Secretariat. See appendixD for sources <strong>and</strong> definitions. Data for most recent yearavailable from source.Note: GDP composition based on 2001 data. Labor force databased on 1991 data. Labor force composition based on 1980data.Sources: World Development Indicators; CIA World Factbook.See appendix D for sources <strong>and</strong> definitions.Note: MRY=most recent year for which data are available; na= “not available.”St. Vincent <strong>and</strong> the Grenadines is primarily a tourism-based economy. Services currently account for morethan 80 percent <strong>of</strong> the GDP <strong>of</strong> St. Vincent <strong>and</strong> the Grenadines. Tourism (including tourism-related activities)is by far the leading component <strong>of</strong> the services sector, <strong>and</strong> its contribution to the economy <strong>of</strong> St. Vincent <strong>and</strong>the Grenadines continues to increase. In 2001, tourism displaced banana exports as the foreign exchangeearningactivity in St. Vincent <strong>and</strong> the Grenadines. The tourism sector <strong>of</strong> St. Vincent <strong>and</strong> the Grenadinescaters to both cruise ship arrivals <strong>and</strong> yachting visitors. Development <strong>of</strong> major tourist resorts <strong>and</strong> the2004–05 filming <strong>of</strong> the motion picture Pirates <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Caribbean</strong>: The Curse <strong>of</strong> the Black Pearl on locationin St. Vincent were the sources <strong>of</strong> a significant economic upturn in 2004. Offshore services are a small butincreasingly visible component <strong>of</strong> the economy. St. Vincent <strong>and</strong> the Grenadines are home to an increasingnumber <strong>of</strong> registered international business corporations, international trusts, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>fshore banks <strong>and</strong> inrecent years has adopted international regulatory st<strong>and</strong>ards to become a more attractive <strong>of</strong>fshore financialcenter.Agriculture accounted for about 8 percent <strong>of</strong> GDP in 2001. The role <strong>of</strong> agricultural production, particularlybanana exports, has declined significantly in recent years. Bananas have long been the largest export crop<strong>of</strong> St. Vincent <strong>and</strong> the Grenadines, but banana exports to the EU market have been declining under the terms<strong>of</strong> EU market access. Banana production in St. Vincent <strong>and</strong> the Grenadines also has declined as a result <strong>of</strong>labor shortages, because <strong>of</strong> low agricultural-sector wages (relative to wages paid in the tourism sector), badweather, <strong>and</strong> lower output that is reportedly due to the reduced use <strong>of</strong> fertilizer <strong>and</strong> pesticides required by4-125

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