Resistance by native Caribs prevented colonization on Saint Vincent until 1719. Disputed by France and the UK for most of the 18th century, the island was ceded to Britain in 1783. The British prized Saint Vincent due to its fertile soil, which allowed for thriving slave-run plantations of sugar, coffee, indigo, tobacco, cotton, and cocoa. In 1834, the British abolished slavery. Immigration of indentured servants eased the ensuing labor shortage, as did subsequent Portuguese immigrants from Madeira and East Indian laborers. Conditions remained harsh for both former slaves and immigrant agricultural workers, however, as depressed world sugar prices kept the economy stagnant until the early 1900s. The economy then went into a period of decline with many landowners abandoning their estates and leaving the land to be cultivated by liberated slaves. Between 1960 and 1962, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was a separate administrative unit of the Federation of the West Indies. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979. In April 2021, the explosive eruption of the La Soufrière volcano in the north of Saint Vincent destroyed much of Saint Vincent’s most productive agricultural lands. Unlike most of its tourism-dependent neighbors, the Vincentian economy is primarily agricultural. The US provided $4.7 million in humanitarian support after the eruption.
land: 389 sq km
water: 0 sq km
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
arable land: 12.8% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 7.7% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 5.1% (2018 est.)
forest: 68.7% (2018 est.)
other: 5.7% (2018 est.)
100,804 (2023 est.)
noun: Saint Vincentian(s) or Vincentian(s)
adjective: Saint Vincentian or Vincentian
African descent 71.2%, mixed 23%, Indigenous 3%, East Indian/Indian 1.1%, European 1.5%, other 0.2% (2012 est.)
English, Vincentian Creole English, French patois
Protestant 75% (Pentecostal 27.6%, Anglican 13.9%, Seventh Day Adventist 11.6%, Baptist 8.9%, Methodist 8.7%, Evangelical 3.8%, Salvation Army 0.3%, Presbyterian/Congregational 0.3%), Roman Catholic 6.3%, Rastafarian 1.1%, Jehovah’s Witness 0.8%, other 4.7%, none 7.5%, unspecified 4.7% (2012 est.)
0-14 years: 19.05% (male 9,687/female 9,515)
15-64 years: 68.55% (male 35,621/female 33,478)
65 years and over: 12.4% (2023 est.) (male 6,021/female 6,482)
total dependency ratio: 49
youth dependency ratio: 32.9
elderly dependency ratio: 16.1
potential support ratio: 6.2 (2021 est.)
total: 37 years (2023 est.)
male: 37.2 years
female: 36.9 years
-0.16% (2023 est.)
12.1 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
7.6 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-6.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
most of the population is concentrated in and around the capital of Kingstown
urban population: 54.3% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.94% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
27,000 KINGSTOWN (capital) (2018)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
62 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 12.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 14.2 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 10.9 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 76.9 years (2023 est.)
male: 74.9 years
female: 79 years
1.74 children born/woman (2023 est.)
0.86 (2023 est.)
NA
improved: total: 95.1% of population
unimproved: total: 4.9% of population (2017 est.)
4.8% of GDP (2020)
0.66 physicians/1,000 population (2012)
4.3 beds/1,000 population (2016)
improved: urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 90.2% of population
unimproved: urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 9.8% of population (2017 est.)
23.7% (2016)
total: 7.48 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 2.52 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.24 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 4.48 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0.23 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
NA
53.3% (2023 est.)
5.7% of GDP (2018 est.)
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA
total: 14 years
male: 14 years
female: 15 years (2015)
pollution of coastal waters and shorelines from discharges by pleasure yachts and other effluents; in some areas, pollution is severe enough to make swimming prohibitive; poor land use planning; deforestation; watershed management and squatter settlement control
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)
agricultural land: 25.6% (2018 est.)
arable land: 12.8% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 7.7% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 5.1% (2018 est.)
forest: 68.7% (2018 est.)
other: 5.7% (2018 est.)
urban population: 54.3% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.94% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
0.02% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 9.41 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 0.22 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 0.09 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 31,561 tons (2015 est.)
municipal: 10 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 2,000 cubic meters (2017 est.)
agricultural: 0 cubic meters (2017 est.)
100 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
upper middle-income Caribbean island economy; key agriculture and tourism sectors; environmentally fragile; diversifying economy across services, science and knowledge, and creative industries; CARICOM member and US Caribbean Basin Initiative beneficiary
$1.429 billion (2021 est.)
$1.41 billion (2020 est.)
$1.489 billion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
1.35% (2021 est.)
-5.31% (2020 est.)
0.4% (2019 est.)
$13,700 (2021 est.)
$13,500 (2020 est.)
$14,200 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$785 million (2017 est.)
1.57% (2021 est.)
-0.63% (2020 est.)
0.91% (2019 est.)
Moody’s rating: B3 (2014)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 7.1% (2017 est.)
industry: 17.4% (2017 est.)
services: 75.5% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 87.3% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 16.6% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 10.8% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: -0.2% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 37.1% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -51.7% (2017 est.)
bananas, sugar cane, roots/tubers, plantains, vegetables, fruit, coconuts, sweet potatoes, yams, mangoes/guavas
tourism; food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch
5.7% (2021 est.)
51,700 (2021 est.)
21.62% (2021 est.)
21% (2020 est.)
19.28% (2019 est.)
total: 41.1% (2021 est.)
male: 39.7%
female: 43.9%
NA
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA
revenues: $243 million (2020 est.)
expenditures: $288 million (2020 est.)
-0.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
73.8% of GDP (2017 est.)
82.8% of GDP (2016 est.)
23.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
calendar year
-$211.643 million (2021 est.)
-$131.46 million (2020 est.)
-$27.903 million (2019 est.)
$125.777 million (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$188.834 million (2020 est.)
$327.51 million (2019 est.)
Netherlands 45%, India 9%, United States 6%, Barbados 5%, Greece 5% (2021)
recreational boats, drilling platforms, cargo ships, wheat flours, animal food, collector’s items (2021)
$415.725 million (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$373.621 million (2020 est.)
$425.28 million (2019 est.)
United States 29%, Netherlands 15%, Trinidad and Tobago 10%, China 8%, France 5% (2021)
dredger ships, refined petroleum, floating docks, aircraft, poultry, packaged medicines (2021)
$311.903 million (31 December 2021 est.)
$205.195 million (31 December 2020 est.)
$193.357 million (31 December 2019 est.)
$362.2 million (31 December 2017 est.)
$330.8 million (31 December 2016 est.)
East Caribbean dollars (XCD) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
2.7 (2021 est.)
2.7 (2020 est.)
2.7 (2019 est.)
2.7 (2018 est.)
2.7 (2017 est.)
electrification - total population: 100% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 49,000 kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 133.917 million kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 0 kWh (2020 est.)
imports: 0 kWh (2020 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 11.083 million kWh (2019 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 73.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 0.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 25.8% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 1,500 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 0 barrels (2021 est.)
0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
1,621 bbl/day (2015 est.)
production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
consumption: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
exports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
202,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 202,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
27.821 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 2 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 11
J8
6 (2021)
5
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
1
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
total: 832 (2022)
by type: bulk carrier 32, container ship 17, general cargo 148, oil tanker 14, other 621
major seaport(s): Kingstown
manyapis