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  • Capital Castries (14°1´N 60°59´W)
  • 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. -—
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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 -—
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. 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 -—
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. 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 type20112019
Total fleet1 4071 407
Oil tankers264266
Bulk carriers311333
General cargo16177
Container ships5249
Other types of ships619682
Port performance
Ranked by 2019 data within SIDS group
Indicators2019SIDS Ranking
Number of port calls1 26715
Median time in port (days)18
Average age of vessels1811
Average size (GT) of vessels32 63310
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
IndicatorsPeriodValue
Poverty headcount (% of population)....
Human development index20180.8
Human assets index202095
Adult literacy rate (15+ years, both sexes %)....
Gender inequality index20190.4
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
Indicators20052010201520192019 (% of GDP)
Merchandise exports64215180823.9
Merchandise imports48666257059828.2
Services exports4363708671 10352
Services imports17720433541219.4
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
Sources
Source of data: -—
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except indicators listed below.
References
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