According to the OPM, Saint Lucia experienced a 3.2% real GDP growth for the year 2023, and 2024 is expected to yield a real GDP growth of 5.3%. The release touted the importance of investment in the private sector and business development as drivers of economic growth.
“The Business Performance Survey conducted by the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in June 2023 confirms that 65% of respondents forecast increased business profitability over the next 12 months. 74% of respondents attempted to recruit additional workers between January and March 2023. More than half of the respondents say 2023 is better than 2022,” the release disclosed.
Despite the recorded growth, economic issues continue to be observed in Saint Lucia. For instance, The World Bank is monitoring the economic challenges of tourism-source countries, like the US and the UK, and the impact on tourism-dependent countries, like Saint Lucia. Climate change and natural disasters also play critical roles in making or breaking the Saint Lucian economy - “more profound economic deceleration in the main tourism source countries… [are] risks tilted towards the downside…,” the Bank notes.
The Bank positively notes however general economic growth for Saint Lucia in the medium and long terms. “Output growth is expected to be supported by a further increase in tourist arrivals and investment in major construction projects that are expected to peak in 2024, such as the airport renovation and construction of several major hotels. Agriculture is expected to remain sluggish in the medium term. Poverty is expected to continue the downward trend, although it will reduce its pace in the medium term. Inflationary pressures are expected to ease over the medium term,” the World Bank forecasted in Saint Lucia’s 2023/2024 economic outlook.
The Bank suggests a reform of the government’s fiscal policies to manage its debt. “The government should commit further to growth-enhancing structural reforms, resilience to natural disasters, and fiscal reforms, which should eventually support bringing down public debt,” its report suggested.
Economic analyses of the country’s economy point towards diversification and job stability within the tourism sector. The local opposition also remains critical of the current administration’s fiscal policies but has not provided alternatives beyond political talking points. The novel Youth Economy Agency holds extreme promise, but it remains too soon to determine the economic viability of this agency for the year 2023.