Every figure below carries its named source and year. The Eco Index scores twelve pillars on the same scale everywhere; seven are measured from published data with fixed thresholds, five are assessed from the named sources.
Grenada at a Glance.
The score, and the four numbers that set the tone. 12 equally-weighted pillars, every pillar sourced.
Compare with:
Renewable power
0%
of electricity
Food imported
24%
of merchandise imports · ~US$158m a year
The Eco Index across 12 pillars · scored 0 to 5 · World Bank, OWID, WHO/UNICEF JMP, FiBL, Protected Planet, IUCN, UNESCO (2023-24)
Water
Food & farming
Plant-based
Organic
Conservation
Wildlife
Materials
Pollution
Recycling
Energy
Culture
Heritage
Facts That Surprise People About Grenada.
The numbers and firsts that change how you see Grenada, the sobering and the remarkable. Every one is dated and linked to its source.
SoberingHealth
A 17% chance of dying early from chronic disease
The World Bank, using WHO data, puts the chance of dying between ages 30 and 70 from heart disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic lung disease in Grenada at 17.1% in 2021.
SoberingHealth
Diabetes affects over one adult in nine
IDF figures carried by the World Bank put diabetes prevalence among adults aged 20 to 79 in Grenada at 11.3% in 2024.
SoberingEnvironment
Hurricane Ivan caused damage worth twice GDP
The IMF put the damage from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 at 200% of Grenada's GDP. Nearly 85% of the nutmeg crop was affected and 60% was completely destroyed.
SoberingEnvironment
Hurricane Beryl hit Carriacou hard in 2024
The IMF reports that Hurricane Beryl caused damage worth more than 16% of GDP on Carriacou and Petite Martinique, as well as in the north of the main island.
Source: IMF, Grenada: 2024 Article IV consultation press release · 2024
SoberingNature
The national bird is critically endangered
The Grenada dove lives only on Grenada and is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. The latest estimate was 136 birds, a 25% fall from 182 before Hurricane Ivan.
RemarkableFood
A nutmeg on the national flag
Grenada is known as the Isle of Spice. The nutmeg on its flag represents that reputation and the spice's traditional link with the economy.
Source: Government of Grenada, National symbols · 2024
RemarkableCulture
Home of a pioneering underwater sculpture park
The Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park was created in 2006 by Jason deCaires Taylor and was widely acclaimed as the first of its kind. In 2023 it gained 27 new works.
Source: Jason deCaires Taylor, Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park · 2006
RemarkableFood
Oil down is the national dish
Grenada's national dish is oil down, a one pot meal of salted meat, chicken, dumplings, breadfruit and callaloo stewed in coconut milk with herbs and spices.
Source: Government of Grenada, National symbols · 2024
The History of Grenada.
Grenada, and especially the sister island of Carriacou, holds strong living African rooted heritage. The Big Drum or Nation Dance traces songs and steps to specific West African nations and is performed at ancestral Saraca feasts that honour the dead.
Where the name comes from
The Kalinago called it Camerhogne. Spanish sailors renamed it for Granada in Andalusia. Source: national and regional toponymic records.
The land itself: volcanic in origin, with mountains through the centre. Its high point is Mount Saint Catherine, 840 m. Source: national mapping and survey records.
Where it starts
Camahogne
Grenada sits at the southern end of the chain, about 90 miles from Trinidad and Venezuela. It was long thought to be the first stopping point for migrations into the Caribbean from South America, but Bayesian modelling of 2,484 radiocarbon dates published in 2019 found that colonists reached the northern Antilles before the southern islands, refuting that stepping stone model. The Pearls site was occupied from around AD 400 and lasted twelve centuries. Sabazan on Carriacou, dated by 26 radiocarbon assays, ran from AD 400 to 1400. Savanne Suazey stood from AD 900 to 1650. The people who lived here called the island Camahogne.
How it got here
Resistance, then plantation
French settlement from the 1650s was resisted by the Kalinago. The island was ceded to Britain in 1763 and worked as a plantation economy on enslaved African labour until abolition in 1834. Independence came in 1974.
The timeline
c. AD 300
The first farming villages.
Pottery-making Ceramic Age peoples settle Grenada from around AD 300, hundreds of years after islands farther north, and few settlements are older than AD 750. Source
AD 1250 to 1650
Continuity, not replacement.
Grenada's early village sites stay occupied right up to French colonisation, which goes against the old theory that Island Caribs replaced the earlier population after AD 1250. Source
Before 1498
Camahogne.
To the Kalinago, the island was Camahogne. Grenada, the southernmost island of the chain, was long described as the first step in migrations north from South America, but a 2019 study of its radiocarbon dates found that islands farther north were settled hundreds of years earlier. Source
1498
European sighting.
Sailing north from Trinidad on his third voyage, Columbus sights the peaks of Camahogne on or about 15 August 1498 and names it La Concepción. Source
1649
French settlement.
The first permanent European settlement on Grenada, a French one, begins on 15 September 1649. An earlier British attempt in 1609 had been destroyed in a Carib attack. Source
1763
Ceded to Britain.
Britain acquires Grenada as one of the Ceded Islands. Plantations expand on the brutal treatment of enslaved Africans, and growing resistance leads to the Fédon Revolution of 1795. Source
1834
Abolition.
Slavery is abolished in 1834, followed by an apprenticeship that ends in 1838. The 1833 Act frees over 23,600 people in Grenada. Plantation owners here receive £616,255 in compensation, and the formerly enslaved receive nothing. Source
1974
Independence.
Grenada becomes independent from the United Kingdom on 7 February 1974, in the Gairy era that ran from 1951 to 1979. Source
Nature and Biodiversity in Grenada.
Grenada set itself a target and did not meet it. The government committed under the Caribbean Challenge to 25 per cent nearshore and 25 per cent terrestrial protection by 2020. Its three marine protected areas cover approximately 4 per cent of nearshore coastal resources, and its ten terrestrial protected areas approximately 6 per cent of the land.
Is wild Grenada protected? 8.8% of the land is, against a 30% target for 2030
How protected is nature in Grenada?
Forest cover52.06%
Terrestrial protected area8.8%
Marine protected area0.1%
61 (mammals, birds, fish & plants) listed as threatened.
Found only here. Grenada dove and Grenada frog, both found only here
The watchlist
ThreatenedGrenada Dove (Leptotila wellsi) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (bird).
ThreatenedHawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (turtle).
ThreatenedGrenada Frog (Pristimantis euphronides) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (amphibian).
ThreatenedReef starlet coral (Siderastrea siderea) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedFire coral (Millepora complanata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedMaze coral (Meandrina meandrites) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedBrain coral (Diploria labyrinthiformis) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedGreen Cactus Coral (Madracis decactis) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
What is still here, and what is gone?
Tap a species for the honest status.
Closest to being lost, by name
Grenada Dove (Leptotila wellsi)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Grenada. GBIF holds 548 verified occurrence records.
Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Grenada. GBIF holds 4 verified occurrence records.
Grenada Frog (Pristimantis euphronides)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Grenada. GBIF holds 2 verified occurrence records.
Reef starlet coral (Siderastrea siderea)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Grenada. GBIF holds 11 verified occurrence records.
Species named here are drawn from GBIF occurrence records for Grenada filtered to the IUCN Red List threatened categories. Species are listed where GBIF holds occurrence records for them in this country. Record counts are not published here because the figure cannot be reproduced from a public GBIF query.
Who is putting it back
National park in Saint George, mapped and named in the open record for Grenada. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Saint George, mapped and named in the open record for Grenada. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Carriacou and Petite Martinique, mapped and named in the open record for Grenada. OpenStreetMap.
National park in Saint Patrick, mapped and named in the open record for Grenada. OpenStreetMap.
Nature reserve in Saint George, mapped and named in the open record for Grenada. OpenStreetMap.
Marine protected area in Saint George, mapped and named in the open record for Grenada. OpenStreetMap.
Water and Ocean in Grenada.
Mainland Grenada is a surface water island, drawing on 29 water supply facilities, 23 of them surface water, with drinking water mainly harvested in dams in the northern mountains. Average annual rainfall is around 1,150 mm and 75 per cent of it falls in the rainy season, which is the whole problem. Dry season yield drops to around 31,800 cubic metres a day against demand of 54,600, and the utility has reported stream production deficits as steep as 60 per cent, with the Clozier plant falling from 40,000 gallons to 7,000.
Does Grenada have enough fresh water? Yes, with headroom
89.9% of people here have safely managed drinking water at home (2017, WHO/UNICEF JMP). Most homes have a safe supply, but coverage is not universal, so check locally before drinking from the tap.
Cleanest water: Molinere Bay Underwater Sculpture Park (Marine Protected Area)
How much fresh water does Grenada have, per person?
1,711 m³
Grenada
1,000 m³
the UN “water scarce” line
Grenada withdraws about 14 million cubic metres of fresh water a year (2022). That is 7.0% of the fresh water actually available to it, which FAO counts as no water stress. Of what is taken, farming takes 15%, homes and towns 85%, industry 0%. Source: FAO AQUASTAT.
What are the rules on Grenada beaches?
·Tap water: Varies.
✓Plastic rules: Polystyrene from Sept 2018, all single use plastics from Feb 2019.
✕Solo travel: rated moderate on the record for this destination.
✕Marine protection: 4% of the sea is protected. The 30x30 pledge for 2030 is not met yet.
Named on the open map: Anse La Roche, Bathway Beach, Black Bay Beach, Cabier Beach, Darvi Beach, Diamond Club Beach. That is 32 named beaches in the public record for Grenada, each one a place you can look up before you go. OpenStreetMap.
Where does the sewage go?
92.6%
of people have at least basic sanitation
92.6% of people here use at least a basic toilet not shared with other households (2024, World Bank / WHO UNICEF JMP). No figure is published for how much of that waste is safely treated, so the share reaching the ground or the water untreated is unknown.
How is the sea around Grenada doing?
One cross-section, every answer measured.
Surface
What the coast carries
Leatherback turtle nesting at Levera Beach ~March–August, best April–June (beach closed after dark in season).
Nearshore
Protected water
0.1% of territorial waters are protected, against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Cleanest
Where the water is cleanest
Molinere Bay Underwater Sculpture Park (Marine Protected Area).
The record
Measured
Mainland Grenada is a surface water island, drawing on 29 water supply facilities, 23 of them surface water, with drinking water mainly harvested in dams in the northern mountains. Average annual rainfall is around 1,150 mm and 75 per cent of it falls in the rainy season, which is the whole problem.
Grenada scored 73 out of 100 on the Ocean Health Index in its 2025 assessment, above the global average of 72, and ranked 98th of 220 coastal regions. The index team says it is no longer updating scores, so the 2025 figures may be the last.
Sea protected
4%
Against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Threatened species
61 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Mammals, birds, fish and higher plants on the IUCN list.
Is the tap water safe in Grenada?
89.9% of people have safely managed drinking water at home (2017, WHO/UNICEF JMP). Renewable fresh water works out at about 1,711 cubic metres per person a year (World Bank).
How hard is the water supply being pushed?
Of every 10 buckets nature refills, 1 are already taken. Withdrawals run at 7.0% of what Grenada renews internally each year (2022, World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT). That is inside the 25% mark generally treated as water stress, so the supply has headroom.
Seaweed on the beaches. Sargassum lands mainly on Grenada's southeast, east, northeast and north coasts. A 2023 University of the West Indies strategy for the government found 25 sites on Grenada and five on Carriacou prone to influxes, and said exposed beaches make up about 15 km, or 12 per cent, of Grenada's coastline. The worst hit stretch is inundated about 78 per cent of the time, as is Carriacou, though Carriacou's beaches usually get smaller amounts. Priority stranding sites include Bathway, Levera, Sauteurs, Soubise and Telescope. The plan names the National Disaster Management Agency as lead agency, with the Environment and Fisheries Divisions as co leads.
When is the best time to visit Grenada? Tap your month.
Tap your month.
How much fresh water does Grenada actually have?
Nature renews about 1,711 cubic metres of fresh water per person per year here. That ranks Grenada 78 of 208 countries measured, putting it in the drier half of the world. The UN treats anything under 1,000 cubic metres as water scarce, and this is above that line. World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT.
Food and Drink in Grenada.
Nutmeg is the claim and it stands up. Grenada is responsible for more than 20 per cent of world nutmeg production, second only to Indonesia at around 75 per cent. Nutmeg is around 9 per cent of the harvested area and provides income to roughly 30 per cent of the population, and Grenadian yields at 579 kg per hectare are well above the regional average of 372.
Where does the food in Grenada come from?
24.2% imported
about US$158m a year
On the plate: Nutmeg and mace (the 'Spice Isle'), cocoa, bananas, ground provisions and callaloo (dasheen leaves), national dish is 'oil down' (breadfruit, salt, callaloo, coconut ).
2 of 10
bites are imported
The island buys in more food energy than it eats. About US$158m a year leaves the country to pay for it. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
About 24.2% of everything Grenada buys in from abroad is food, roughly 2 in every 10 imported items on the dock (2024, World Bank). Farming itself is 2.5% of the economy and 23.5% of the land is agricultural, of which 8.8% is arable. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
What is killing people in Grenada? The imported diet.
Cause of death, and the diet behind it.
Non-communicable diseases, all combined59.1%
Diabetes11.3%
Adults living with overweight or obesity. 59.9%.
Can Grenada feed itself?
8.8%
Arable land
23.5%
Agricultural land
7,413
Arable acres
2.5%
Agriculture, share of GDP
Harvest: Nutmeg much of the year, cocoa heaviest around the turn of the year
Feeding itself
Nutmeg is the claim and it stands up. Grenada is responsible for more than 20 per cent of world nutmeg production, second only to Indonesia at around 75 per cent.
Certification
Grenada's organic story is cocoa and it is genuine. Belmont Estate's cocoa farm was certified organic in 2003, having converted in 2000 because the Grenada Chocolate Company, already making chocolate from organically grown cocoa, was looking for a local supplier. Belmont is now its biggest supplier.
Water for crops
Mainland Grenada is a surface water island, drawing on 29 water supply facilities, 23 of them surface water, with drinking water mainly harvested in dams in the northern mountains. Average annual rainfall is around 1,150 mm and 75 per cent of it falls in the rainy season, which is the whole problem.
Why the organic number looks like that. Certification covers only part of what is grown cleanly, so a small certified share is a gap in the paperwork rather than proof that nothing is. What the official land record does show: 23.5% of the country is agricultural land and 8.8% is arable (2023, World Bank). Certification is paid for per farm per year by a foreign body, which prices out smallholders, so the organic number reads worse than the practice.
What actually grows here
SugarcaneCoconutsVegetablesFruitsBananasPlantainsGrapefruitsAvocadosMangoes/guavas
The food that already fits
The plant-based kitchen here is not an import. By tonnage, the largest crops grown in Grenada are sugarcane, coconuts and bananas (FAO, FAOSTAT crop production, 2024). That is what the land itself puts on a plate.
Buy direct where residents buy: Serving Ourselves Farm, "Mont Rose" Organic Farm, Pride of the Meadow, Lewisville Family Farms, Farm and Garden Center, Excellent Farms Ltd. Every one is a farm shop we have checked and listed ourselves, so the money goes to the grower rather than the importer. The checked list
Checked kitchens from the directory: Vegan Vibes to Vegan Vibes is a restaurant in Grenada. See its verified sustainability rating and review to help you decide w; Belmont Estate Restaurant to Belmont Estate Restaurant is a restaurant in Grenada. See its verified sustainability rating and review to hel; Volcan Vegan to Volcan Vegan is a restaurant in Grenada. See its verified sustainability rating and review to help you decide; Bogles Round House to Bogles Round House is a restaurant in Grenada. See its verified sustainability rating and review to help you d. Every kitchen listed here is checked for how plant-based the menu really is before it earns its place.
Is this grown in Grenada?
Tap a food for the honest answer.
NutmegCocoaBananasGround provisions
Climate and Energy in Grenada.
Grenada's electricity is almost entirely diesel generated, with fossil fuels supplying about 98 per cent and renewables under 2 per cent in 2024. Per person emissions are low at 3.22 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, a reflection of the island's small scale rather than clean energy. The government has a target of 30 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 and is exploring geothermal and solar, but delivery so far is minimal. The near total reliance on imported diesel keeps the score low despite modest absolute emissions.
What powers Grenada?
Renewable 0%Fossil 100%
Grenlec, Grenada Electricity Services Ltd, is the sole licensed electricity supplier for Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, It was privatised in 1994 and is listed on the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange. Its 2024 annual report records that on 24 December 2020 the Government of Grenada owned 71.4 per cent of the shares and names it as the majority shareholder, with the National Insurance Scheme holding 11.6 per cent and the public the other 17 per cent. It runs under the Electricity Act 19 of 2016 and is regulated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, set up under the PURC Act No. 20 of 2016, which sets its tariffs. Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 destroyed 85 per cent of the distribution network on Carriacou and 90 per cent on Petite Martinique. In September 2024 the PURC gave conditional approval for 19.4 MW of new generation to replace ageing units at Queen's Park, but withheld approval for any liquefied natural gas infrastructure pending further studies.
Climate pollution per person
The safe amount, what the planet can absorb
2 tonnes
One person here
1.5 tonnes
The world average, for comparison
4.7 tonnes
The worst it ever got
1.56 tonnes
The grid
Grenada's electricity is almost entirely diesel generated, with fossil fuels supplying about 98 per cent and renewables under 2 per cent in 2024. Per person emissions are low at 3.22 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, a reflection of the island's small scale rather than clean energy.
Pollution
Grenada legislated early and in stages, under the Non-Biodegradable Waste Control Act. Importing polystyrene was banned from 1 September 2018, the sale of styrofoam from 1 March 2019 and the offer for sale of food in or with it from 1 April 2019. The plastics stage began on 1 February 2019 with a ban on importing and locally manufacturing single use plastic shopping bags with handles, followed by a ban on selling them from 1 December 2019.
Water stress
Mainland Grenada is a surface water island, drawing on 29 water supply facilities, 23 of them surface water, with drinking water mainly harvested in dams in the northern mountains. Average annual rainfall is around 1,150 mm and 75 per cent of it falls in the rainy season, which is the whole problem.
What pollutes most here
1The grid The share of electricity still generated from fossil fuel.98%
2Air Modelled annual mean against a WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.4.7
3On the record Grenada legislated early and in stages, under the Non-Biodegradable Waste Control Act.
What has Grenada promised on climate?
Electricity renewable today2% (2021)
Land protected, against a 30% target8.8% by 2025
Sea protected, against a 30% target0.1% by 2025
Measured on delivery, 2% of electricity is already renewable (2021, World Bank), so 98% of the grid is still to be converted. The pledge on file is measured here against what has actually been delivered, not taken on its own (UNFCCC NDC Registry, CBD Kunming-Montreal Target 3).
The biggest line item
One return flight against a whole year of living.
A resident's entire year1.5 t CO2e
Safe-climate budget, per year2 t CO2e
Singapore return, economy3.22 t CO2e
Sydney return, economy2.86 t CO2e
Dubai return, economy2.17 t CO2e
Johannesburg return, economy1.91 t CO2e
Frankfurt return, economy1.37 t CO2e
How much CO2 does flying to Grenada emit?
Tap where you would fly from. One return flight, economy.
Firsts on climate finance. Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 triggered CCRIF payouts across five separate Grenada policies, about US$55.6 million in all: US$42.4 million on the government's tropical cyclone policy, US$0.55 million for excess rainfall, US$1.07 million under the COAST policy for fisheries, US$9.32 million to the electricity company Grenlec and US$2.20 million to the water authority NAWASA. CCRIF's own totals show these are the only payouts it has made to date under its fisheries, electric utility and water utility cover. Grenlec says its EC$25.06 million payout paid for restoration and let it leave its own EC$33.9 million hurricane reserve untouched.
Climate Watch (WRI) · UNFCCC NDC Registry · World Bank Open Data · UK DESNZ greenhouse gas conversion factors · Grenada Electricity Services (Grenlec), 2024 Annual Report · Grenlec, About us · Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Grenada, home page · CCRIF SPC, CCRIF SPC payouts (June 2007 to October 2026)
AI and Data Centres in Grenada.
Every prompt runs on a machine in a building on somebody’s grid. What that costs the planet depends less on the prompt than on what is burning to power it. Here is what would power one in Grenada.
Data centres
0
Registered colocation and interconnection facilities, PeeringDB, 2026
Grid renewable
0.0 %
What a machine here runs on.
What powers a data centre in Grenada?
Almost everything a machine here consumes is burned fossil fuel.
Renewable 0%Fossil 100%
Cooling water. Every one of those halls runs on the national grid, which is 2% renewable today (World Bank). A data centre is only as clean as the electricity behind it, so the same figure that decides this country's climate score also decides the footprint of the AI running inside it. Cooling water use is not separately published by facility, and no operator here reports it.
The rules. Grenada has 0 colocation and interconnection facilities on the public PeeringDB register, alongside 1 internet exchange (GREX).
Where the cables land. 3 landing points · Carriacou, Conference, Point Salines
Economy and Tourism in Grenada.
18% residents to 82% visitors across a year. 526,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 117,303 people who live here (2025, World Bank / UN Tourism).
Where a visitor dollar goes in Grenada
217k
Visitors a year
1.9
Visitors per resident
How deep in debt is Grenada?· for every $100 Grenada earns in a year, it owes…
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · the 2013 peak
$ 105The worst year on the IMF record. Grenada owed $105 for every $100 it earned.
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2013signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · today
$ 69What is owed now, for every $100 of national income (2026).
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · projected 2031
$ 67The IMF's own forecast has this falling to $67 by 2031.
IMF World Economic Outlook projection, 2031signed, the forecast
For every $100 Grenada earns in a year, it owes $69 (2026, IMF World Economic Outlook). The interest on that is paid before schools, clinics or coastline get their turn.
Where does a tourist dollar actually go in Grenada?
Play one tourist dollar around the board. Every square is a measured fact from this page.
START!
1
GO: a visitor lands
$100 goes on the table. 526,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 117,303 residents, 4.5 visitors for every resident (World Bank / UN Tourism).
$100 in play2
The bed
Who owns the largest places to stay in Grenada is not published in the records we can check, so this square is left open rather than guessed. Where a listing names its owner, it is shown in the ownership table below.
not published3
The plate
Food is 24.2% of everything Grenada imports (2024, World Bank), so a large part of every restaurant bill is paid to a supplier abroad. Eating what the land here actually grows, sugarcane, coconuts, vegetables, fruits, bananas, plantains, grapefruits, avocados, mangoes/guavas, keeps that money with the grower.
sails in4
The power
98% of the electricity is fossil (2021, World Bank). Lighting, cooling and hot water are paid for largely in imported fuel.
burns away5
What actually stays
Of the two parts of a visitor's bill that can be measured here, the plate and the power mostly leave Grenada. Choosing locally grown food is the part of that a visitor can actually control.
less than you think6
Pay the bank first
Grenada owes $69 for every $100 it earns (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). The interest is paid before anything else on this board.
$69 per $1007
A spread hand
The largest single export, milling products, malt and starch, is 13.6% of the total (2023, UN Comtrade). No one shock can take the whole board.
top export 13.6%8
Community chest
Tourism earns 88.2% of everything Grenada makes from exports (2018, World Bank / UN Tourism). That is how much of the economy depends on the game continuing.
88.2% of exports9
The flight
Getting here is usually the biggest single line on the bill. From Singapore a return economy seat is 3.22 t CO2, on the UK Government's published conversion factors. It is the one part of the trip this board cannot reduce.
3.22 t CO210
Back to GO
The economy turns over about US$1 billion a year (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). Every lap of this board is a choice about how much of it stays.
US$1bnGDPUS$1.4bn
Agriculture, share of GDP2.5%
Visitors a year217,000
Visitors per resident1.9
Residents~117,303
Agriculture
Farming is 2.5% of the economy. Nutmeg is the claim and it stands up.
Natural materials
The living craft here is wood, and it carries the highest credential available. Traditional wooden boatbuilding in Carriacou and Petite Martinique was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2023.
Energy
Grenada's electricity is almost entirely diesel generated, with fossil fuels supplying about 98 per cent and renewables under 2 per cent in 2024. Per person emissions are low at 3.22 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, a reflection of the island's small scale rather than clean energy.
Who owns the biggest hotels in Grenada?
By rooms · company records and press.
Crayfish Bay Organic EstateOwnership not publishednot published
Petite Anse HotelOwnership not publishednot published
Almost Paradise Cottage RetreatsOwnership not publishednot published
Visitors, over time
2015437k
2016474k
2017468k
2018529k
2019526k
2020217k
International tourism receipts run at about US$0.55 billion in 2018 (World Bank / UN Tourism). That is 88.2% of everything the country earns from exports.
How much of your money actually stays here?
Tap the holiday you are planning.
Visiting Grenada, whoever you are.
Resort guest, villa renter, family, nomad or backpacker. The honest playbook for each, from the same sourced numbers.
Already booked a resort? · the rescue list
Five swaps that move your money back on-island
1. Eat where the country eats Choose kitchens cooking what the land here grows, sugarcane, coconuts, vegetables, fruits, bananas, plantains, grapefruits, avocados and mangoes/guavas, over an imported menu. The checked list
2. Book with a local operator Never the lobby desk. The margin on a tour is the part that stays. Eco tours
3. Stay somewhere locally owned Ownership decides where the room rate books. Eco stays
4. Use the transport residents use Local buses on the mainland; ferry or light aircraft to Carriacou
5. Buy the craft, not the souvenir Natural-materials work made here pays the maker directly; imported gifts pay a shipping line.
Swipe
First time here
Grenada is the spice island and the claim is real: after Indonesia it is the second largest supplier of whole nutmeg to the main European markets, with 11 per cent of German and 13 per cent of Italian whole nutmeg imports against Indonesia's 79 and 85 per cent. It is also volcanic, river fed and forested, with cocoa estates you can walk through from pod to bar.
Best time: January to April is driest. Nutmeg and cocoa are harvested across much of the year, with cocoa heaviest around the turn of the year. The Carriacou Maroon and String Band Music Festival is at the end of April, and Grenada's carnival, Spicemas, is in August.
Getting around
Local buses on the mainland; ferry or light aircraft to Carriacou
Transport is where the fare either stays or leaves.
Eating here
The everyday plate that actually grows here is sugarcane, coconuts, vegetables, fruits, bananas, plantains, grapefruits, avocados and mangoes/guavas. Ordering those keeps the money with the grower and cuts the imported share of the meal.
Eating what the country grows is the cheapest way to cut the import bill.
Good to know
Carriacou was hit by Hurricane Beryl as a category 4 on 1 July 2024 and 98 per cent of its infrastructure was damaged. It is green again and trading, but go with that in mind and spend locally.
Water is short in the dry season on the mainland and permanently tight on Carriacou, where 91 per cent of households run on cisterns.
Do not buy fruit to feed the mona monkeys at Grand Etang. They are an introduced species and the feeding is a habit worth ending. And ask where a spice basket was woven before you buy it, because we could not establish whether they are made here.
Rate my hotel. Tap yours for the honest verdict.
Ownership from company records and press.
Who owns the big hotels
Crayfish Bay Organic EstateOwnership not published
Petite Anse HotelOwnership not published
Almost Paradise Cottage RetreatsOwnership not published
None of the 3 properties listed here publishes who ultimately owns it, so no claim is made either way. Ownership is what decides how much of a room rate stays in the country, which is why we show it when a listing states it.
Society and Governance in Grenada.
How well is Grenada actually run?
Governance, measured · World Bank WGI
Four measured answers, none of them opinion. Averaged across corruption control, delivery and accountability, Grenada scores 58 out of 100 (2024, World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators). That matters here because every pledge on this page is only as good as the machinery meant to deliver it.
What is daily life in Grenada really like? Measured
Getting around, breathing, throwing away, learning. The honest checklist.
TransportAirWaterWastePower
✓How you get around Local buses on the mainland; ferry or light aircraft to Carriacou
97.8%
literacy. Public spending on education runs at 5.1% of GDP and 11.4% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment stands at 100.7% gross (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2023 to 2025).
Made in Grenada.
The living craft here is wood, and it carries the highest credential available. Traditional wooden boatbuilding in Carriacou and Petite Martinique was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2023. Every step of processing done at home is value that stops leaving the country.
What Grenada actually sells the world
The single biggest thing Grenada sells the world is milling products, malt and starch, 13.6% of all exports in 2023 (about US$0.01 billion, UN Comtrade). The next four are coffee, tea and spices at 10.5%, animal feed residues at 10.0%, tanning and dyeing extracts at 8.9%, beverages, spirits and vinegar at 6.7%.
Made now · natural materials
Contours
Worked in Grenada from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Frank Belfon
Worked in Grenada from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Who trades as The Culture Man at the Grand Anse Craft Market
Worked in Grenada from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Buys in · 17.8% of imports
Mineral fuels and oils
Grenada imported US$0.11 billion of mineral fuels and oils in 2023, 17.8% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 8.5% of imports
Machinery and mechanical appliances
Grenada imported US$0.05 billion of machinery and mechanical appliances in 2023, 8.5% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 6.1% of imports
Vehicles
Grenada imported US$0.04 billion of vehicles in 2023, 6.1% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
Buys in · 3.6% of imports
Meat
Grenada imported US$0.02 billion of meat in 2023, 3.6% of everything it bought abroad, and sells none of it back. Every point of that is a business that could be built at home rather than shipped in. UN Comtrade.
The maths for an entrepreneur. Grenada produces about US$1 billion a year, which is roughly US$12,107 per person (2025, World Bank). Farming is 2.5% of that, while food is 24.2% of everything the country imports. The country buys in more food than its own farms contribute to the economy, and every point of that gap is a business someone could build here rather than ship in. With 8.8% of the land arable, the raw material for that is already in the ground.
See the verified makersCulture in Grenada.
Big Drum Nation Dance
A Carriacou family festival in honour of the ancestors, where three drummers play the dances of African nations. It is held on the eve of a wedding, at a tombstone feast or at the launch of a schooner.
Quadrille of Carriacou
Quadrille dances on Carriacou are played on violin, tambourine, drum and triangle, and in the 1950s were still held by the older families.
Saraca
In Grenada the name Saraca is given to long Shango ceremonies, whose rites often follow the farming year.
August
Spicemas carnival with Jab Jab
Grenada's carnival, held in August. On J'ouvert Monday the Jab Jab bands, blackened with molasses, tar, grease or mud, parade through the town before dawn.
AugustShortknee masqueradeEach parish has its own traditional mas, usually Short Knees, Vieux Corps and Wild Indians, who parade at Spicemas in bright costumes with energetic dance.
AugustCalypsoCalypso rings through Spicemas, and the calypso competition is held on Dimanche Gras, carnival Sunday night.
Does Grenada protect its heritage by law?
Partly, and the gaps say as much as the protections.
What is kept alive. Grenada, and especially the sister island of Carriacou, holds strong living African rooted heritage. The Big Drum or Nation Dance traces songs and steps to specific West African nations and is performed at ancestral Saraca feasts that honour the dead. Quadrille, calypso, soca and steelpan are part of everyday cultural life, and the annual Spicemas carnival brings out Jab Jab and Shortknee masquerade.
Who it belongs to. Carriacou holds one of the most intact African cultural memories in the English speaking Caribbean. The Big Drum or Nation Dance honours the West African ancestors brought under slavery, fusing the dance and music of nations such as the Akan of Ghana with colonial and other African influences, and it is performed at Maroons, village festivals held in spring to call for rain, transmitted almost entirely by oral tradition. Be accurate about status.
Only here. Grenada is the second largest supplier of whole nutmeg to the main European markets after Indonesia, holding 11 per cent of German and 13 per cent of Italian whole nutmeg imports against Indonesia's 79 and 85 per cent. Molinere, installed in 2006, is widely recognised as the first underwater sculpture park of its kind. Carriacou's wooden boatbuilding was inscribed by UNESCO in 2023.
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Grenada · Spicemas Corporation, Grenada carnival · Spicemas Corporation, Traditional Mas Bands · Smithsonian Folkways, The Big Drum Dance of Carriacou, notes by Andrew C. Pearse · Association for Cultural Equity, Grenada, Creole and Yoruba Voices, notes by Morton Marks and Kenneth Bilby
The Future of Grenada.
Three futures for Grenada, every one run forward from measured data.
Where the making actually happens
Named cultural and craft sites on the open map: Grenada National Museum (St. George's), Grand Etang Forest Museum (Saint Andrew), Carriacou Museum (Hillsborough). OpenStreetMap.
Every measured trend on one line
Run forward at the pace already recorded.
World Bank open data, recorded series
How much forest is left?
Forest cover moved from 52.1% to 51.5% across 29 recorded years.
How much climate pollution per person?
CO2 per person moved from 0.6 t to 1.5 t across 29 recorded years.
How many people visit?
Tourist arrivals moved from 369k to 217k across 25 recorded years.
How much land is protected?
Protected land moved from 2.2% to 8.8% across 12 recorded years.
How much land is farmed?
Agricultural land moved from 32.4% to 23.3% across 29 recorded years.
How fast is it urbanising?
Urban population moved from 34.5% to 36.7% across 30 recorded years.
Is the air getting cleaner?
Air pollution moved from 12.2 µg/m³ to 11 µg/m³ across 28 recorded years.
Is water getting scarcer?
Fresh water per person moved from 1,926 m³ to 1,711 m³ across 27 recorded years.
Is diet-related disease rising?
Adult overweight moved from 40.4% to 59.9% across 27 recorded years.
Who has power?
Electricity access moved from 85% to 95.6% across 26 recorded years.
Is income rising?
GDP per person moved from 3,294 to 12,107 across 30 recorded years.
How fast is it growing?
Population moved from 104k to 117k across 30 recorded years.
What share of all energy is renewable?
Renewable energy use moved from 7.4% to 10% across 27 recorded years.
How long do people live?
Life expectancy moved from 72.1 yrs to 75.4 yrs across 29 recorded years.
How much does a hectare of cereal produce?
Cereal yield moved from 983 kg/ha to 997 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How much fertiliser goes on the land?
Fertiliser use moved from 228 kg/ha to 23.3 kg/ha across 22 recorded years.
How many people still live rurally?
Rural population moved from 65.5% to 63.3% across 30 recorded years.
How much value per cubic metre of water?
Water productivity moved from 89.6 $/m3 to 78 $/m3 across 17 recorded years.
How much goes on health?
Health spending moved from 5.36% to 4.65% across 23 recorded years.
How much forest is there in total?
Forest area moved from 177 km2 to 177 km2 across 30 recorded years.
How have agriculture emissions moved?
Agriculture emissions moved from 0.02 to 0.03 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have building emissions moved?
Building emissions moved from 0.01 to 0.04 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have electricity/heat emissions moved?
Electricity/Heat emissions moved from 0.05 to 0.18 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have energy emissions moved?
Energy emissions moved from 0.12 to 0.37 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have manufacturing/construction emissions moved?
Manufacturing/Construction emissions moved from 0.02 to 0.02 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have transportation emissions moved?
Transportation emissions moved from 0.04 to 0.11 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
Worst caseCurrent pathBest case
Worst case
Every measured decline continues at the pace already recorded. The weakest pillar, food and farming at 1/5, is the one that gives way first.
Computed from: recorded series extended with no policy change
What the best case actually asks for
Lift food and farming
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Grenada's record. Nutmeg is the claim and it stands up. Grenada is responsible for more than 20 per cent of world nutmeg production, second only to Indonesia at around 75 per cent.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift energy
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Grenada's record. Grenada's electricity is almost entirely diesel generated, with fossil fuels supplying about 98 per cent and renewables under 2 per cent in 2024.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift organic farming
It scores 2 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of Grenada's record. Grenada's organic story is cocoa and it is genuine. Belmont Estate's cocoa farm was certified organic in 2003, having converted in 2000 because the Grenada Chocolate Company, already making chocolate from organically grown cocoa, was looking for a local suppli…
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Government and Goals in Grenada.
Who is in charge of Grenada now · Office-holders from the UN Protocol and Liaison Service public list of Heads of State and Heads of Government, 20 October 2026. Legislature and election dates from IFES ElectionGuide. Constitution dates from the Constitute Project. Governance scores from the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators 2024.
Dickon Mitchell
Prime Minister
Dickon Mitchell is the head of government of Grenada, in office since 24 June 2022. Every climate, protection and energy pledge on this page is delivered, or not, under this administration.
Public opinion, measured
Voice and accountability, the freedom to question government scores 66.6 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 66.7 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Control of corruption scores 58.2 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 57.8 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Political stability and absence of violence scores 87.3 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 86.8 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Rule of law scores 68.2 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 68.1 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Regulatory quality scores 55.0 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 56.4 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Dickon MitchellPrime Minister
ParliamentLegislature, bicameral
Last election23 June 2022
Constitution1973, as revised to 1992
Government typeparliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Grenada national goals: what has been pledged, and how far it has got · each pledge measured against this country's own recorded delivery
2030
30% of land protected
✕ far behindTarget 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted by more than 190 parties in December 2022. Grenada currently protects 8.8% of its land, which is 29% of the way to the pledge. Source
2030
30% of sea protected
✕ far behindThe marine half of the same 30x30 pledge. Grenada currently protects 0.1% of its territorial waters, which is 0% of the way there. Source
2030
Paris Agreement pledge
on recordGrenada has a Nationally Determined Contribution lodged with the UNFCCC. The registry holds the current text, its target year and the sectors it covers. Source
Plastic policy
in forcePolystyrene from Sept 2018, all single use plastics from Feb 2019.
Grid, as it stands
2% renewableRecorded renewable share of electricity output, the number every energy pledge is measured against. Source
Plain Answers About Grenada.
The questions people actually type, answered in full sentences from the sourced data above.
Swipe
Is Grenada sustainable?
Grenada scores 62 out of 100 on the Throne Eco Index, across twelve equally weighted pillars. Grenada is the spice island and the claim is real: after Indonesia it is the second largest supplier of whole nutmeg to the main European markets, with 11 per cent of German and 13 per cent of Italian whole nutmeg imports against Indonesia's 79 and 85 per cent. It is also volcanic, river fed and forested, with cocoa estates you can walk through from pod to bar. Carriacou is its own story.
Is the water in Grenada safe and plentiful?
Mainland Grenada is a surface water island, drawing on 29 water supply facilities, 23 of them surface water, with drinking water mainly harvested in dams in the northern mountains. Average annual rainfall is around 1,150 mm and 75 per cent of it falls in the rainy season, which is the whole problem. Dry season yield drops to around 31,800 cubic metres a day against demand of 54,600, and the utility has reported stream production deficits as steep as 60 per cent, with the Clozier plant falling from 40,000 gallons to 7,000.
Can Grenada feed itself?
Nutmeg is the claim and it stands up. Grenada is responsible for more than 20 per cent of world nutmeg production, second only to Indonesia at around 75 per cent. Nutmeg is around 9 per cent of the harvested area and provides income to roughly 30 per cent of the population, and Grenadian yields at 579 kg per hectare are well above the regional average of 372.
Is it easy to eat plant-based in Grenada?
St George's Market Square at the foot of Young Street is the main produce market, open through the week and at its best on Saturday morning when farmers come in from the outlying parishes with island produce, spices, cocoa and vanilla. For eating at the source, Belmont Estate is a working organic farm that takes you through growing, harvesting, fermenting and sun drying cocoa into chocolate, with a restaurant and a goat dairy. Belmont Estate's cocoa farm was certified organic in 2003, having converted in 2000 because the Grenada Chocolate Company, already making chocolate from organically grown cocoa, was looking for a local supplier. Belmont is now its biggest supplier.
How much of Grenada is actually protected?
Grenada set itself a target and did not meet it. The government committed under the Caribbean Challenge to 25 per cent nearshore and 25 per cent terrestrial protection by 2020. Its three marine protected areas cover approximately 4 per cent of nearshore coastal resources, and its ten terrestrial protected areas approximately 6 per cent of the land.
What wildlife is left in Grenada?
The Grenada dove is the national bird, is found only on Grenada, and is Critically Endangered with approximately 160 mature individuals left across two populations. Monitoring is led from the University of Chester with Toledo Zoo and the IUCN Pigeon and Dove Specialist Group. Its habitat is fragmented, only partly protected, and under development pressure, so we name the sanctuaries and publish no site level detail.
Is Grenada on clean energy?
Grenada's electricity is almost entirely diesel generated, with fossil fuels supplying about 98 per cent and renewables under 2 per cent in 2024. Per person emissions are low at 3.22 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, a reflection of the island's small scale rather than clean energy. The government has a target of 30 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 and is exploring geothermal and solar, but delivery so far is minimal.
How polluted is Grenada?
Grenada legislated early and in stages, under the Non-Biodegradable Waste Control Act. Importing polystyrene was banned from 1 September 2018, the sale of styrofoam from 1 March 2019 and the offer for sale of food in or with it from 1 April 2019. The plastics stage began on 1 February 2019 with a ban on importing and locally manufacturing single use plastic shopping bags with handles, followed by a ban on selling them from 1 December 2019. The then environment minister who drove it, Simon Stiell, later became UN Climate Change Executive Secretary.
Does recycling work in Grenada?
The Perseverance Landfill on the west coast is the primary disposal site, semi aerobic, sits about 500 metres from Halifax harbour and is nearing capacity. The last of its six cells was being completed in 2023 with a life expectancy of five years, and the original landfill there, commissioned in February 2001, collapsed within nine months on slope stability. Grenada has moved on recycling and home composting through OECS and Recycle Organics programmes, though we found no published national rate.
Is the farming in Grenada organic?
Grenada's organic story is cocoa and it is genuine. Belmont Estate's cocoa farm was certified organic in 2003, having converted in 2000 because the Grenada Chocolate Company, already making chocolate from organically grown cocoa, was looking for a local supplier. Belmont is now its biggest supplier. Crayfish Bay at Victoria is a small working organic cocoa estate you can actually sleep on, and the Diamond Chocolate Factory at Victoria is farmer owned.
Are there natural materials and craft in Grenada?
The living craft here is wood, and it carries the highest credential available. Traditional wooden boatbuilding in Carriacou and Petite Martinique was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2023. Shipwrights choose trees for their natural bends and contours and fell them at the right phase of the moon on the guidance of elders.
Is there living culture in Grenada?
Carriacou holds one of the most intact African cultural memories in the English speaking Caribbean. The Big Drum or Nation Dance honours the West African ancestors brought under slavery, fusing the dance and music of nations such as the Akan of Ghana with colonial and other African influences, and it is performed at Maroons, village festivals held in spring to call for rain, transmitted almost entirely by oral tradition. Be accurate about status.
What heritage does Grenada keep alive?
Grenada, and especially the sister island of Carriacou, holds strong living African rooted heritage. The Big Drum or Nation Dance traces songs and steps to specific West African nations and is performed at ancestral Saraca feasts that honour the dead. Quadrille, calypso, soca and steelpan are part of everyday cultural life, and the annual Spicemas carnival brings out Jab Jab and Shortknee masquerade.
So is Grenada actually green? The measured answer
What is working: the record is thin on the headline measures, and the sourced numbers below say why.
What is not: land protected at 8.8% against a 30% mark, sea protected at 0.1% against a 30% mark, renewable electricity at 2% against a 100% mark.
How Grenada Ranks, region and world.
Where Grenada sits on the Eco Index, against its Caribbean neighbours and the 77 destinations scored worldwide.
How does Grenada compare in Caribbean?
1Dominica72
2Belize70
4Jamaica67
Scored Caribbean destinations, Eco Index.
The global top 10 of the 77 destinations scored
1Switzerland78
2France78
3Finland77
4Slovenia77
5Australia77
6Portugal75
7Germany75
8New Zealand75
9Italy73
10Spain73
Grenada sits 53 of 77 at 62/100. Every name links to its own destination page, built exactly like this one. The full ranking
What is Grenada particularly good at?
✓ Culture, scored 5/5. Carriacou holds one of the most intact African cultural memories in the English speaking Caribbean. The Big Drum or Nation Dance honours the West African ancestors brought under slavery, fusing the dance and music of nations such as the Akan of Ghana with colonial and other African influences, and it is performed at Maroons, village festivals held in spring to call for rain, transmitted almost entirely by oral tradition.
✓ Heritage, scored 5/5. Grenada, and especially the sister island of Carriacou, holds strong living African rooted heritage. The Big Drum or Nation Dance traces songs and steps to specific West African nations and is performed at ancestral Saraca feasts that honour the dead. Quadrille, calypso, soca and steelpan are part of everyday cultural life, and the annual Spicemas carnival brings out Jab Jab and Shortknee masquerade. These are living ancestral traditions carried across generations, not staged revivals.
✓ Water, scored 4/5. Mainland Grenada is a surface water island, drawing on 29 water supply facilities, 23 of them surface water, with drinking water mainly harvested in dams in the northern mountains. Average annual rainfall is around 1,150 mm and 75 per cent of it falls in the rainy season, which is the whole problem.
Where does Grenada score worst?
✕ Food and farming, scored 1/5. Nutmeg is the claim and it stands up. Grenada is responsible for more than 20 per cent of world nutmeg production, second only to Indonesia at around 75 per cent. Nutmeg is around 9 per cent of the harvested area and provides income to roughly 30 per cent of the population, and Grenadian yields at 579 kg per hectare are well above the regional average of 372. A nutmeg seed is on the national flag.
✕ Energy, scored 1/5. Grenada's electricity is almost entirely diesel generated, with fossil fuels supplying about 98 per cent and renewables under 2 per cent in 2024. Per person emissions are low at 3.22 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, a reflection of the island's small scale rather than clean energy. The government has a target of 30 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 and is exploring geothermal and solar, but delivery so far is minimal. The near total reliance on imported diesel keeps the score low despite modest absolute emissions.
✕ Organic farming, scored 2/5. Grenada's organic story is cocoa and it is genuine. Belmont Estate's cocoa farm was certified organic in 2003, having converted in 2000 because the Grenada Chocolate Company, already making chocolate from organically grown cocoa, was looking for a local supplier. Belmont is now its biggest supplier. Crayfish Bay at Victoria is a small working organic cocoa estate you can actually sleep on, and the Diamond Chocolate Factory at Victoria is farmer owned.
A note from the lens of mother natureSwipe
Food and farming, 1/5
Nutmeg is the claim and it stands up. Grenada is responsible for more than 20 per cent of world nutmeg production, second only to Indonesia at around 75 per cent.
Consequence: It is the lowest-scoring part of Grenada's record, so it is where the score moves first.
Energy, 1/5
Grenada's electricity is almost entirely diesel generated, with fossil fuels supplying about 98 per cent and renewables under 2 per cent in 2024. Per person emissions are low at 3.22 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, a reflection of the island's small scale rather than clean energy.
Organic farming, 2/5
Grenada's organic story is cocoa and it is genuine. Belmont Estate's cocoa farm was certified organic in 2003, having converted in 2000 because the Grenada Chocolate Company, already making chocolate from organically grown cocoa, was looking for a local supplier. Belmont is now its biggest supplier.
The Grenada Directory.
Everything on Hold The Throne that sits in Grenada, checked and listed.
How the rest of the world scores Grenada
Independent global indices, for calibration.
Forest cover
51.5
World Bank, 2024.
Protected land
8.8
World Bank, 2025.
Protected sea
0.1
World Bank, 2025.
Renewable grid
2.0
World Bank, 2021.
CO2 per person
1.5
World Bank, 2024.
Threatened species
61 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
Control of corruption
58.2 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Government effectiveness
52.5 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Rule of law
68.2 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Political stability
87.3 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Voice and accountability
66.6 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Environmental Performance Index
35.7 / 100 · 117 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 117 of 177 countries assessed.
Ecosystem vitality
33.7 / 100 · 141 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 141 of 177 countries assessed.
Biodiversity and habitat
26.0 / 100 · 142 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 142 of 177 countries assessed.
Air quality
41.5 / 100 · 78 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 78 of 177 countries assessed.
Terrestrial biomes protected
27.2 / 100 · 141 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 141 of 177 countries assessed.
Marine habitat protected
3.4 / 100 · 87 of 111
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 87 of 111 countries assessed.
How Grenada Is Scored. The Throne Standard.
Every destination on the index is scored the same way, so a 4 in Barbados means exactly what a 4 means in Iceland. No self-declared data and no brochure claims are accepted. Seven pillars are scored from published measurements with the same fixed thresholds everywhere: energy (low-carbon share of electricity, 90% or more scores 5, 70% 4, 50% 3, 25% 2), conservation (land and sea protected), water (safe drinking water, wastewater treated, water stress), organic farmland, recycling, food import dependence and air quality. Where a measurement is not published for a place, that pillar keeps its source-assessed score and is labelled as such. Wildlife, culture, heritage, materials and plant-based eating have no comparable measurement and are assessed from the named sources. The Eco Index is the average of the twelve pillar scores multiplied by 20. Every figure on this page carries its named source and year, and the history on each page names what empire took as plainly as it scores the present.
The 12 pillars every destination is scored on, equally weighted
01
Water
Safe drinking water, wastewater treated and water stress. Measured.
02
Food & farming
How much of the import bill is food: whether the place feeds itself. Measured.
03
Plant-based
How easy it is to eat plant-based, from documented sources.
04
Organic
Certified organic share of farmland. Measured.
05
Conservation
Land and sea legally protected, against the 30 by 30 goal. Measured.
06
Wildlife
What survives, what is endemic, what is lost, from documented sources.
07
Materials
Local natural fibres and craft, from documented sources.
08
Pollution
Air quality (PM2.5, measured) and plastics and waste policy.
09
Recycling
Share of municipal waste recycled. Measured.
10
Energy
Low-carbon share of electricity, nuclear included. Measured.
11
Culture
Living culture and community-led visits, from documented sources.
12
Heritage
What the law keeps standing, from documented sources.
What each 0 to 5 pillar score means, in plain words
0
Absent
nothing verifiable exists
1
Failing
measurably going the wrong way
2
Weak
claims outrun delivery
3
Fair
real effort, mixed results
4
Strong
genuinely good, evidence named
5
Leading
world class, and the trend holds
Where the numbers come from.
The institutions above are the ones cited on this page, ranked by how many of its figures they carry. This same sectioned page renders for all 77 scored destinations, each with its own researched history, comparison charts and three-way future. Read the full methodology
Every figure on this page, and where it came from: 95 sources across 46 institutions
World Bank17 FIGURES
- forest cover 52.1%, 2023
- Threatened species (mammals EN.MAM.THRD.NO, birds EN.BIR.THRD.NO, fish EN.FSH.THRD.NO, higher plants EN.HPT.THRD.NO), 2022 check
- Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2023 check
- Terrestrial protected areas (% of land) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2025 check
- Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS, 2025 check
- Renewable electricity output (% of total) EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS, 2021 check
- CO2 emissions per capita EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5, 2024 check
- GDP (current US$) NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, 2025 check
- International tourist arrivals ST.INT.ARVL, 2020 check
- Agricultural land (% of land area) AG.LND.AGRI.ZS, 2023 check
- Arable land (% of land area) AG.LND.ARBL.ZS, 2023 check
- Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS, 2025 check
- Adult literacy rate SE.ADT.LITR.ZS, 1970 check
- Renewable internal freshwater per capita (m3) ER.H2O.INTR.PC, 2022 check
- Overweight prevalence, adults (%) SH.STA.OWAD.ZS, 2022 check
- Population total SP.POP.TOTL, 2025 check
- What a Waste 2.0 country-level dataset check
GBIF8 FIGURES
- IUCN Red List category for Leptotila wellsi (Grenada Dove) corroboration check
- IUCN Red List category for Eretmochelys imbricata (hawksbill turtle), Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (turtle). check
- IUCN Red List category for Eretmochelys imbricata (hawksbill turtle) corroboration check
- IUCN Red List category for Eretmochelys imbricata (hawksbill turtle) corroboration check
- IUCN Red List category for Pristimantis euphronides (Grenada Frog) corroboration check
- IUCN Red List category for Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral), Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in Grenada in GBIF occurrence data (coral). check
- IUCN Red List category for Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral) corroboration check
- IUCN Red List category for Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral) corroboration check
Government of Grenada6 FIGURES
- National Symbols, The Grenada dove is the national bird, is found only on Grenada, and is Critically Endangered with approximate check
- National Symbols corroboration check
- National Symbols corroboration check
- National Symbols corroboration check
- National Symbols corroboration check
- National Symbols corroboration check
Other published sources6 FIGURES
- Second largest supplier of whole nutmeg to the leading European markets (CBI, updated 8 March 2024); no current source supports the one third of the population figure check
- Belmont certified organic 2003; the chocolate company was already using organically grown cocoa before Belmont converted, and Belmont is its biggest supplier rather than its first check
- Not the first: Chocolates El Rey has made chocolate in Venezuela, a cocoa producing country, since 1929; the equal pay detail is not stated by any source that could be opened check
- The 1 February 2019 phase covered importation and local manufacture of single use plastic shopping bags with handles only, per the Ministry of Climate Resilience, with the sale ban from 1 December 2019 check
- Beside Halifax Bay; the sixth and final cell was being commissioned in 2023 with a five year life, and it was the original 2001 landfill that collapsed within nine months (Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority) check
- The stepping stone model is refuted by Napolitano et al. 2019 in Science Advances, which found the northern Antilles were settled first and supports the southward route hypothesis check
Harrison4 FIGURES
- B. and Beston, J. (2026), 'Relationship Between Endemic and Invasive Frogs on Grenada', Ecology and Evolution 16(1):e72889, The Grenada frog is also endemic and Critically Endangered, one of only two endemic terrestrial vertebrates on check
- B. and Beston, J. (2026), 'Relationship Between Endemic and Invasive Frogs on Grenada', Ecology and Evolution 16(1):e72889 corroboration check
- B. and Beston, J. (2026), 'Relationship Between Endemic and Invasive Frogs on Grenada', Ecology and Evolution 16(1):e72889 corroboration check
- B. and Beston, J. (2026), 'Relationship Between Endemic and Invasive Frogs on Grenada', Ecology and Evolution 16(1):e72889 corroboration check
Fletcher3 FIGURES
- S. (2017), 'Analysis of a Failed Primary Commodity Cartel: The Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association (GCNA) and the Association of Indonesian Nutmeg Exporters (ASPIN) Joint Marketing Agreement', PhD thesis, Aston University, Grenada is the spice island and the claim is real: it is the world's second largest nutmeg producer after Indo check
- S. (2017), 'Analysis of a Failed Primary Commodity Cartel: The Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association (GCNA) and the Association of Indonesian Nutmeg Exporters (ASPIN) Joint Marketing Agreement', PhD thesis, Aston University corroboration check
- S. (2017), 'Analysis of a Failed Primary Commodity Cartel: The Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association (GCNA) and the Association of Indonesian Nutmeg Exporters (ASPIN) Joint Marketing Agreement', PhD thesis, Aston University corroboration check
IUCN (2012)3 FIGURES
- IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1, Second edition, Section IV 'The Categories', Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in Grenada. check
- IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1, Second edition, Section IV 'The Categories' corroboration check
- IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1, Second edition, Section IV 'The Categories' corroboration check
UNESCO Institute for Statistics3 FIGURES
- government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP, Grenada, Public spending on education runs at 5.1% of GDP and 11.4% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment check
- government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP, Grenada corroboration check
- government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP, Grenada corroboration check
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage3 FIGURES
- element 01893, 'Traditional wooden boatbuilding in Carriacou and Petite Martinique' (Internet Archive capture, 7 December 2023), Traditional wooden boatbuilding there was inscribed by UNESCO in 2023, and boats are still built on the beach check
- element 01893, 'Traditional wooden boatbuilding in Carriacou and Petite Martinique' (Internet Archive capture, 7 December 2023) corroboration check
- element 01893, 'Traditional wooden boatbuilding in Carriacou and Petite Martinique' (Internet Archive capture, 7 December 2023) corroboration check
BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC2 FIGURES
FAO2 FIGURES
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment2 FIGURES
Grenada Tourism Authority2 FIGURES
UN Comtrade2 FIGURES
ACAPS1 FIGURE
- Grenada: impact of Hurricane Beryl, 18 July 2024 check
Belmont Estate1 FIGURE
- chocolate factory check
CBD1 FIGURE
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3 check
Central Statistical Office1 FIGURE
- Grenada, national statistical authority check
Constitute Project1 FIGURE
- Grenada 1973 (reinst. 1991, rev. 1992) check
Convention on Biological Diversity1 FIGURE
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Target 3 corroboration check
Ember1 FIGURE
- Global Electricity Review, national generation mix check
FEE Blue Flag programme1 FIGURE
- Grenada is not a participating country, 2025
FiBL/IFOAM1 FIGURE
- organic farmland 2.2%, 2023
Forbes1 FIGURE
- Nutmeg: Grenada's black gold check
Global Energy Monitor1 FIGURE
- Energy profile: Grenada, 2024 check
Government of Grenada Climate Resilience Portal1 FIGURE
- water availability check
Government of Grenada Ridge to Reef1 FIGURE
- protected areas check
Grenada Co-operative Nutmeg Association1 FIGURE
- nutmeg and mace, local staples check
Grenada Ministry of Climate Resilience and the Environment1 FIGURE
- national environmental authority check
Grenada National Trust1 FIGURE
- intangible cultural heritage inventory check
IFES ElectionGuide1 FIGURE
- Grenada elections and chambers check
IQAir1 FIGURE
- PM2.5 annual mean 4.7 ug/m3 (meets WHO guideline), 2025
Island Learning Grenada1 FIGURE
- natural phenomena
Jason deCaires Taylor1 FIGURE
- Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park check
MEP Caribbean Publishers1 FIGURE
- Grenada's nutmeg industry still in recovery check
NOW Grenada1 FIGURE
- Pure Grenada bans the importation of polystyrene check
Our World in Data1 FIGURE
- CO2 emissions country profile (Grenada), 2024 check
UN Protocol and Liaison Service1 FIGURE
- Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs, public list dated 20 October 2026 check
UN Statistics Division, Energy Balances1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, renewable share of total final energy consumption (%) EG_FEC_RNEW, Grenada, 2024 (9.1%), modelled estimate check
UNESCO1 FIGURE
- traditional wooden boatbuilding in Carriacou and Petite Martinique check
UNFCCC1 FIGURE
- NDC Registry check
University of Chester1 FIGURE
- saving the critically endangered Grenada dove check
US News Travel and Lonely Planet1 FIGURE
- market days
WHO/UNICEF JMP1 FIGURE
- Safely-managed drinking water 89.9%, 2017
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, population using safely managed drinking water (%) SH_H2O_SAFE, Grenada, 2017 (89.9%), modelled estimate check
World Bank EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS1 FIGURE
- renewable electricity 2.0%, 2021