First colonized by the Spanish, the islands came under British control in the early 19th century. The islands’ sugar industry was hurt by the emancipation of the slaves in 1834. Manpower was replaced with the importation of contract laborers from India between 1845 and 1917, which boosted sugar production as well as the cocoa industry. The discovery of oil on Trinidad in 1910 added another important export. Independence was attained in 1962. The country is one of the most prosperous in the Caribbean thanks largely to petroleum and natural gas production and processing. Tourism, mostly in Tobago, is targeted for expansion and is growing. The government is struggling to reverse a surge in violent crime.
land: 5,128 sq km
water: 0 sq km
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental margin
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
mean elevation: 83 m
arable land: 4.9% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 4.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 1.4% (2018 est.)
forest: 44% (2018 est.)
other: 45.4% (2018 est.)
1,407,460 (2023 est.)
noun: Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s)
adjective: Trinidadian, Tobagonian
note: Trinbagonian is used on occasion to describe a citizen of the country without specifying the island of origin
East Indian 35.4%, African descent 34.2%, mixed - other 15.3%, mixed - African/East Indian 7.7%, other 1.3%, unspecified 6.2% (2011 est.)
English (official), Trinidadian Creole English, Tobagonian Creole English, Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Trinidadian Creole French, Spanish, Chinese
Protestant 32.1% (Pentecostal/Evangelical/Full Gospel 12%, Baptist 6.9%, Anglican 5.7%, Seventh Day Adventist 4.1%, Presbyterian/Congregational 2.5%, other Protestant 0.9%), Roman Catholic 21.6%, Hindu 18.2%, Muslim 5%, Jehovah’s Witness 1.5%, other 8.4%, none 2.2%, unspecified 11.1% (2011 est.)
0-14 years: 19.04% (male 136,733/female 131,316)
15-64 years: 67.4% (male 482,427/female 466,200)
65 years and over: 13.56% (2023 est.) (male 88,531/female 102,253)
total dependency ratio: 43.7
youth dependency ratio: 29.3
elderly dependency ratio: 16.8
potential support ratio: 7.4 (2021 est.)
total: 38 years (2023 est.)
male: 37.5 years
female: 38.4 years
0.12% (2023 est.)
10.6 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
8.5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
population on Trinidad is concentrated in the western half of the island, on Tobago in the southern half
urban population: 53.4% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.23% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
545,000 PORT-OF-SPAIN (capital) (2023)
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
27 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 15.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 17.5 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 13.3 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 76.2 years (2023 est.)
male: 74.3 years
female: 78.2 years
1.63 children born/woman (2023 est.)
0.8 (2023 est.)
NA
improved: urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 100% of population
unimproved: urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 0% of population (2020 est.)
7.3% of GDP (2020)
4.48 physicians/1,000 population (2019)
3 beds/1,000 population (2017)
improved: urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 99.9% of population
unimproved: urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 0.1% of population (2020 est.)
18.6% (2016)
total: 5.81 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 2.92 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.16 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 2.65 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
48.6% (2023 est.)
4.1% of GDP (2020 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99.2%
female: 98.7% (2015)
water pollution from agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; widespread pollution of waterways and coastal areas; illegal dumping; deforestation; soil erosion; fisheries and wildlife depletion
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
tropical; rainy season (June to December)
agricultural land: 10.6% (2018 est.)
arable land: 4.9% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 4.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 1.4% (2018 est.)
forest: 44% (2018 est.)
other: 45.4% (2018 est.)
urban population: 53.4% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.23% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
0.05% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 10.26 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 43.87 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 1.35 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 727,874 tons (2010 est.)
municipal: 240 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 130 million cubic meters (202 est.)
agricultural: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
3.84 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
high-income Caribbean economy; major hydrocarbon exporter; key tourism and finance sectors; high inflation and growing public debt; long foreign currency access delays; large foreign reserves and sovereign wealth fund
$35.147 billion (2021 est.)
$35.511 billion (2020 est.)
$38.465 billion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
-1.03% (2021 est.)
-7.68% (2020 est.)
0.11% (2019 est.)
$23,000 (2021 est.)
$23,400 (2020 est.)
$25,300 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$24.031 billion (2019 est.)
2.06% (2021 est.)
0.6% (2020 est.)
1% (2019 est.)
Moody’s rating: Ba1 (2017)
Standard & Poors rating: BBB- (2020)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 0.4% (2017 est.)
industry: 47.8% (2017 est.)
services: 51.7% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 78.9% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 16.4% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 8.2% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 0.6% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 45.4% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -48.7% (2017 est.)
poultry, fruit, coconuts, citrus fruit, milk, plantains, maize, oranges, eggs, gourds
petroleum and petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, methanol, ammonia, urea, steel products, beverages, food processing, cement, cotton textiles
-0.99% (2021 est.)
702,900 (2021 est.)
4.8% (2021 est.)
4.57% (2020 est.)
3.42% (2019 est.)
total: 12.7% (2021 est.)
male: 12.8%
female: 12.6%
20% (2014 est.)
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA
revenues: $4.939 billion (2020 est.)
expenditures: $7.528 billion (2020 est.)
-8.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
41.8% of GDP (2017 est.)
37% of GDP (2016 est.)
19.52% (of GDP) (2018 est.)
1 October - 30 September
$2.9 billion (2021 est.)
-$1.356 billion (2020 est.)
$1.02 billion (2019 est.)
$11.467 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$6.44 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$9.566 billion (2019 est.)
United States 37%, Guyana 6%, China 5%, Mexico 4%, Belgium 4% (2021)
ammonia, industrial alcohols, natural gas, crude petroleum, iron products, fertilizers, refined petroleum (2021)
$8.592 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$6.785 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$7.96 billion (2019 est.)
United States 37%, China 9%, Mexico 6%, Brazil 5%, Canada 4% (2021)
refined petroleum, iron, excavation machinery, ships, cars (2021)
$6.88 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$6.954 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$6.929 billion (31 December 2019 est.)
$8.238 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$8.746 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TTD) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
6.759 (2021 est.)
6.751 (2020 est.)
6.754 (2019 est.)
6.771 (2018 est.)
6.78 (2017 est.)
electrification - total population: 100% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 2.123 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 8,213,020,000 kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 0 kWh (2019 est.)
imports: 0 kWh (2019 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 424 million kWh (2019 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 99.9% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 0.1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 0% 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: 1,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 1,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 81,000 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 35,500 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 22,100 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 64,700 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 243 million barrels (2021 est.)
134,700 bbl/day (2015 est.)
106,100 bbl/day (2015 est.)
0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
production: 30,886,691,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
consumption: 16,247,415,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
exports: 14,662,269,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
proven reserves: 298.063 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
39.652 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 10,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 4.631 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 35.011 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 1 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 19
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 2,525,130 (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 41.14 million (2018) mt-km
9Y
4 (2021)
2
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.)
2
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
257 km condensate, 11 km condensate/gas, 1,567 km gas, 587 km oil (2013)
total: 102 (2022)
by type: general cargo 1, other 101
major seaport(s): Point Fortin, Point Lisas, Port of Spain, Scarborough
oil terminal(s): Galeota Point terminal
LNG terminal(s) (export): Port Fortin
manyapis