160922
English (official), French patois
CASTRIES (capital) 22,000 (2014)
- Conventional long form
- none
- Conventional short form
- Saint Lucia
- Local long form
- Local short form
parliamentary democracy (Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
- Name
- Castries
- Geographic coordinates
- 14 00 N, 61 00 W
- Time difference
- UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries. Tourism is Saint Lucia's main source of jobs and income - accounting for 65% of GDP - and the island's main source of foreign exchange earnings. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area. Crops such as bananas, mangos, and avocados continue to be grown for export, but St. Lucia's once solid banana industry has been devastated by strong competition.
- Inflation
- -0.984%
- External debt stocks
- US$ 529,447,000
- Total tax rate (% of commercial profits)
- 34.7%
- Real Interest Rate
- 13.418%
- Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)
- 2.738%
- Current Account Balance
- US$ -100,327,088
- Labor Force, Total
- 100,005
- Employment in Agriculture
- 11.06%
- Employment in Industry
- 15.27%
- Employment in Services
- 69.78%
- Unemployment Rate
- 19.76%
- Imports of goods and services
- US$ 732,962,963
- Exports of goods and services
- US$ 658,518,519
- Total Merchandise Trade
- 52.23%
- FDI, net inflows
- US$ 95,030,741
- Commercial Service Exports
- US$ 406,004,310
bananas, coconuts, vegetables, citrus, root crops, cocoa
tourism; clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, lime processing, coconut processing
- Commodities
- bananas 41%, clothing, cocoa, avocados, mangoes, coconut oil (2010 est.)
- Partners
- Dominican Republic 24.6%, US 15.6%, Suriname 8.9%, Antigua and Barbuda 6.9%, Dominica 6.7%, Trinidad and Tobago 6.1%, Barbados 6%, UK 4.7%, Grenada 4.5% (2015)
- Commodities
- food, manufactured goods, machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals, fuels
- Partners
- Brazil 35.2%, US 25.9%, Trinidad and Tobago 14.6%, Colombia 11% (2015)