International airport(s) Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) in Vieux Fort and George F. L. Charles Airport (SLU) in Castries
Official language(s) English
Currency East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Time UTC -4
Region Caribbean
GeographyClimateEconomyCulture
Saint Lucia is located in the eastern Caribbean Sea section of the Lesser Antilles, lying northeast of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. Saint Lucia is a mountainous volcanic island, with a land area of 617 km2 of which about two thirds is covered by forest. At 950 m, Mount Gimie is the highest point on the island. Two other mountains called the Pitons are famous landmarks in Saint Lucia. Saint Lucia also consists of many small islands such as the Maria Islands in the southeast. About one third of the population lives in the capital city, Castries. More generally, the population tends to be concentrated along the coastline.
Saint Lucia has a tropical rainforest climate moderated by northeast trade winds. There are two distinct seasons, with the dry season lasting from December to May, followed by a wet season for the rest of the year with November as the wettest month. Since Saint Lucia is close to the Equator, winter and summer temperatures do not fluctuate much. Monthly average temperatures range from 25 to 27 °C. The average annual rainfall on the island is below 2 500 mm, somewhat lower on the coast and higher in the mountain rainforests. -— – ‒ - – —--— – ‒ - – —--— – ‒ - – —--— – ‒ - – —-
Saint Lucia is attractive to foreign businesses and investments in banking and the tourism sector. The educated workforce and improvements in infrastructure, including roads, water supply, sewerage, communications and ports contribute to a positive investment environment. Manufacturing makes a relatively small contribution to GDP, but is diverse. St. Lucia is currently trying to revitalise its banana industry. In addition, Saint Lucia exports beer, jewellery, automobiles and petroleum products. The main export destinations are the United States of America, United Kingdom and Trinidad and Tobago. The service sector accounts for most of the country's GDP, with agriculture playing a smaller role compared with many other SIDS. Trade, restaurants and hotels contributing about 30 per cent of the country's GDP -— – ‒ - – —--— – ‒ - – —--— – ‒ - – —--— – ‒ - – —-. All in all, travel and tourism are vital to the economy with 1.2 million tourist arrivals in 2019 and an inbound tourism expenditure of 46 per cent over GDP -— – ‒ - – —--— – ‒ - – —--— – ‒ - – —--— – ‒ - – —-. Peak tourism seasons is the dry season when cruise ships visit the ports of Saint Lucia.
Traditional cultural festivals include La Rose and La Marguerite, with their origins in secret societies representing local fraternal societies, a Saint Lucian equivalent of Freemasonry. The biggest festival of the year is the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival, which is held in early May. A popular folk dance, the Kwadril, can be seen during festivities.
Saint Lucia boasts a high number of Nobel laureates relative to its population: Sir Arthur Lewis won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979 and the poet Derek Walcott in Literature in 1992.
Land areakm2
Arable land%
Forest area%
Coastline lengthkm
Exclusive economic zonekm2
Nearest neighbourkm
Economic trendsMaritime transportPopulationInternational tradeEnvironmentInformation and communications technology
Gross domestic product US dollars at constant prices (2015) in millions
GDP per capita
2019
US$
Productive Capacity Index
2018
Economic and environmental vulnerability index
2019
Consumer Price Index growth
2019
%
Unemployment rate
Total % Female %, Male %
Main economic sectors, 2019 Percentage of GDP
Tourist arrivals Thousands of tourists, percentage of GDP
External financial resources Percentage of GDP
Public debt as % of GDP
2018
%
Fleet size Number of ships
Ship type
2011
2019
Total fleet
1 407
1 407
Oil tankers
264
266
Bulk carriers
311
333
General cargo
161
77
Container ships
52
49
Other types of ships
619
682
Port performance Ranked by 2019 data within SIDS group
Indicators
2019
SIDS Ranking
Number of port calls
1 267
15
Median time in port (days)
1
8
Average age of vessels
18
11
Average size (GT) of vessels
32 633
10
Container port throuput
2019
TEU
Bilateral connectivity index, 2019 Top 5 partners
Liner shipping connectivity index Maximum China Q1 2006=100
Total population Thousands of people, share of urban population
Population development indicators
Indicators
Period
Value
Poverty headcount (% of population)
..
..
Human development index
2018
0.8
Human assets index
2020
95
Adult literacy rate (15+ years, both sexes %)
..
..
Gender inequality index
2019
0.4
Life expectancy at birth
years
Population density
2019
persons per km2
Dependency ratio
2019
Child: Old-age:
Age structure by gender, 2019 Percentage of total population
Merchandise and services trade US dollars in millions
Indicators
2005
2010
2015
2019
2019 (% of GDP)
Merchandise exports
64
215
180
82
3.9
Merchandise imports
486
662
570
598
28.2
Services exports
436
370
867
1 103
52
Services imports
177
204
335
412
19.4
Trade openness Goods and services
% of GDP
Export concentration index
2019
Food import dependency Average 2015-2019
Top 5 partners in merchandise trade, 2019 Exports in millions US dollars
Merchandise exports by product group, 2019
Services exports by category, 2019
CO2 emissions per capita Kg per capita
CO2 emissions per GDP Kg per 2010 US$ of GDP
Renewable energy share in total energy consumption, 2017 Percentage of total energy consumption
Material footprint per capita
2016
kg
Terrestrial protected area
2018
%
Marine protected area
2018
%
Disasters indicators
Data not available
Trade in ICT goods
Exports: % Imports: %
Trade in ICT services
Exports: % Imports: %
Share of internet users
%
Fixed broadband vs Mobile broadband subscriptions Number of subscriptions per 100 people
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