Tag Archives: Saint Lucia

According to allcountrylist, the economic sectors of Saint Lucia can be broadly divided into four main categories: industry, agriculture, services, and construction. Industry is the largest sector in Saint Lucia and is responsible for roughly 40% of the country’s GDP. This includes manufacturing, mining, energy production and tourism. Agriculture is the second largest sector in Saint Lucia and accounts for around 20% of its GDP. It includes crop production, livestock breeding and forestry. Services are the third largest sector in Saint Lucia and account for roughly 36% of its GDP. This includes financial services, retail trade, transportation and communication services as well as health care and education services. Lastly, construction is the fourth largest sector in Saint Lucia accounting for around 4% of its GDP. This includes building activities related to residential housing as well as nonresidential buildings such as office buildings or hospitals as well as infrastructure activities such as bridges or highways. In terms of economic growth over the past decade or so, Saint Lucia has experienced a period of steady growth since 2013 with real GDP increasing by an average rate of 3-4%. This has been driven mainly by strong performance in both industry and services which have grown at rates between 5-6% each with agriculture seeing positive growth at a rate between 0-1%. Construction has seen relatively stagnant due to weak demand from both domestic and foreign sources. Overall, these sectors have contributed positively to Saint Lucia’s economy with strong performance in both industry and services being particularly important for driving economic growth over this period. Agriculture has been a cornerstone of the economy of Saint Lucia since the island was first settled by Europeans in the early 16th century. Initially, settlers relied on subsistence farming, growing crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes for their own consumption. As the island developed, however, large-scale plantation-style agriculture emerged with sugar cane being the main crop grown. This was initially extremely profitable and led to a significant increase in wealth for landowners and planters. The 19th century saw a shift away from traditional plantation-style agriculture towards more diversified production with other crops such as bananas, cocoa and coffee being introduced. This period also saw increased mechanization with steam engines used to power sugar mills and other agricultural machinery. Despite this modernization of agriculture, crop yields remained relatively low due to issues such as soil fertility problems caused by overgrazing or deforestation from past plantation activities. By the mid-20th century Saint Lucia had experienced an economic decline due to competition from other Caribbean islands as well as economic depression in Europe. This led to a shift away from plantation-style agriculture towards subsistence farming with families growing food for their own consumption or selling it at local markets. In addition, livestock production became increasingly important with goats being particularly popular due to their ability to graze on marginal lands that are unsuitable for crop cultivation. The late 20th century saw further diversification of agricultural production with increased focus on non-traditional crops such as fruits and vegetables which could be exported abroad or sold at local markets. In addition, government initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry or permaculture have been implemented in recent years which could help increase yields while also protecting natural resources over time. Today agriculture still plays an important role in Saint Lucia’s economy although it has been largely overshadowed by tourism which is now the largest contributor to GDP. Nevertheless, smallholder farmers are still present on both islands producing staple crops such as cassava, sweet potatoes, yams and plantains for local consumption while some also export produce such as bananas or mangoes abroad. See collegesanduniversitiesinusa for St. Lucia Education and Training.