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.
Saint Lucia at a Glance.
The score, and the four numbers that set the tone. 12 equally-weighted pillars, every pillar sourced.
Compare with:
Renewable power
3%
of electricity
Food imported
28%
of merchandise imports · ~US$139m 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 Saint Lucia.
The numbers and firsts that change how you see Saint Lucia, the sobering and the remarkable. Every one is dated and linked to its source.
SoberingHealth
More than one adult in nine has diabetes
In 2024 the International Diabetes Federation put diabetes prevalence among adults in Saint Lucia at 11.4%, about 15,200 people.
Source: International Diabetes Federation, Saint Lucia · 2024
SoberingHealth
Six in ten adults are overweight
World Bank data drawn from WHO estimates show 62.6% of adults in Saint Lucia were overweight in 2022.
SoberingHealth
Most deaths come from noncommunicable diseases
Noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes caused 82% of all deaths in Saint Lucia in 2019, according to World Bank data drawn from WHO estimates.
SoberingHealth
Diabetes behind almost every amputation
The president of the Saint Lucia Diabetes and Hypertension Association said the island recorded 131 amputees in 2013, of whom 129 lost limbs as a result of diabetes.
SoberingNature
A snake clinging on to one small islet
Durrell calls the Saint Lucia racer the rarest snake in the world and estimates fewer than 50 remain in the wild. Thought extinct, it was found again on Maria Major in 1973 and now lives only there.
Source: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Saint Lucia racer · 1973
RemarkablePeople
Two Nobel laureates who share a birthday
Sir Arthur Lewis won the Nobel prize in economics in 1979 and Derek Walcott the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. Both were born on 23 January, Lewis in 1915 and Walcott in 1930.
RemarkableNature
The Pitons are a World Heritage Site
The Pitons Management Area was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2004 for its two volcanic spires, 770 m and 743 m high, rising side by side from the sea. In 2025 IUCN rated its conservation outlook as of significant concern.
Source: IUCN World Heritage Outlook, Pitons Management Area · 2004
RemarkableNature
The national parrot came back from about 100 birds
The Saint Lucia parrot was down to around 100 birds in the 1970s. After conservation work including captive breeding, a 2009 study counted 1,750 to 2,250 in the wild.
RemarkableNature
A lizard found nowhere else on Earth
The Saint Lucia whiptail lizard is found nowhere else in the world and lives on the Maria Islands, a wildlife reserve since 1982 where access is controlled.
Source: Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Offshore small islands · 1982
Worth knowingHistory
Fought over like Helen of Troy
Saint Lucia changed hands fourteen times between Britain and France, seven times each, earning the name the Helen of the West Indies. France surrendered it to Britain in 1814.
Source: Embassy of Saint Lucia, History of Saint Lucia · 1814
Worth knowingNature
A volcano you can drive into
The tourism authority says Sulphur Springs near Soufrière is often described as the Caribbean's only drive in volcano, at the heart of the island's geothermal landscape.
Source: Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Sulphur Springs · 2026
The History of Saint Lucia.
Saint Lucia sustains a vibrant Afro-French Creole heritage that remains part of everyday life. Kwéyòl (Saint Lucian Creole) is widely spoken, celebrated each October in the island-wide Jounen Kwéyòl, and the rival flower societies of La Rose and La Marguerite, dating from 1758, still stage their singing, costume and feast-day festivals.
Where the name comes from
Hewanorra in Kalinago, usually read as 'land of the iguana'. The saint's name was applied by Europeans. Source: national and regional toponymic records.
The land itself: volcanic and mountainous, cut by broad, fertile valleys. Its high point is Mount Gimie, 948 m. Source: national mapping and survey records.
Where it starts
Iouanalao, then Hewanorra
Archaic people settled here between about 1000 and 500 BC. Arawakan-speaking communities arrived from northern South America around AD 200 to 400 and left well-developed pottery at sites across the island. At Lavoutte on the north coast, twelve individuals from the Ceramic period were recovered, and are among the remains used in the ancient DNA study of pre-contact Caribbean population history published in Nature. The first inhabitants called the island Iouanalao, land of the iguanas. The Kalinago, arriving around AD 800, called it Hewanorra, a name the island's airport still carries.
How it got here
Fourteen changes of hands
France and Britain fought over the island repeatedly and it changed hands fourteen times, while Kalinago resistance continued throughout. It passed to Britain by treaty in 1814, slavery was abolished in 1834, and independence came in 1979.
The timeline
12th to 15th century
The Lavoutte site.
Burials at Lavoutte date from the 12th to the 15th century, and twelve people from the site are part of the ancient DNA study of the pre-contact Caribbean published in Nature. Source
Before European contact
Iouanalao.
The Arawaks, the earliest known settlers, call the island Iouanalao, land of the iguanas. Source
About 800 years before European settlement
Hewanorra.
The Kalinago live on the island and resist the first Europeans, and their name for it later becomes Hewanorra. Source
1600s to 1700s
Fourteen changes of hands.
France and Britain fight over the island, and it changes hands fourteen times, earning the name Helen of the West Indies. Source
1814
Ceded to Britain.
France surrenders the island to Britain. Source
1979
Independence.
Saint Lucia becomes independent in 1979, remaining in the Commonwealth. It is the smallest country to have produced two Nobel Prize winners, Sir Arthur Lewis and Derek Walcott. Source
Nature and Biodiversity in Saint Lucia.
42 protected areas are recorded, and here is the number that tells you the most: only four of the 42 have ever undergone a management effectiveness evaluation. Strong designation, thin assessment. The Pitons Management Area is the island's only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed on 30 June 2004 under natural criteria, covering 2,909 hectares.
Is wild St Lucia protected? 18.2% of the land is, against a 30% target for 2030
How protected is nature in Saint Lucia?
Forest cover53.75%
Terrestrial protected area18.2%
Marine protected area0.3%
72 (mammals, birds, fish & plants) listed as threatened.
Found only here. St Lucia parrot; St Lucia whiptail
The watchlist
ThreatenedSemper's Warbler (Leucopeza semperi) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia in GBIF occurrence data (bird).
ThreatenedEretmochelys imbricata Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia in GBIF occurrence data (turtle).
ThreatenedVanzo's Whiptail (Cnemidophorus vanzoi) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia in GBIF occurrence data (reptile).
ThreatenedElkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedMillepora squarrosa Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedErythrolamprus ornatus Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia in GBIF occurrence data (reptile).
ThreatenedReef starlet coral (Siderastrea siderea) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia 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
Semper's Warbler (Leucopeza semperi)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in St Lucia. GBIF holds 39 verified occurrence records.
Eretmochelys imbricata
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in St Lucia. GBIF holds 7 verified occurrence records.
Vanzo's Whiptail (Cnemidophorus vanzoi)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in St Lucia. GBIF holds 75 verified occurrence records.
Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in St Lucia. GBIF holds 15 verified occurrence records.
Species named here are drawn from GBIF occurrence records for St Lucia 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
Nature reserve, mapped and named in the open record for St Lucia. OpenStreetMap.
Botanical garden in Soufrière, mapped and named in the open record for St Lucia. OpenStreetMap.
Botanical garden in Micoud, mapped and named in the open record for St Lucia. OpenStreetMap.
Water and Ocean in Saint Lucia.
St Lucia looks wet and is not reliably so. The John Compton Dam on the Roseau River, completed in October 1995, holds 2.6 million cubic metres and supplies the north of the island through the Hill 20 treatment plant. Silt has been accumulating since Hurricane Tomas in 2010 and a severe trough in December 2013, and when dry season levels drop below the lower draw off port the utility has to ration.
Does St Lucia have enough fresh water? Yes, with headroom
John Compton Dam on the Roseau River, plus river intakes
How much fresh water does Saint Lucia have, per person?
1,678 m³
Saint Lucia
1,000 m³
the UN “water scarce” line
St Lucia withdraws about 43 million cubic metres of fresh water a year (2022). That is 14.3% of the fresh water actually available to it, which FAO counts as low water stress. Of what is taken, farming takes 71%, homes and towns 29%, industry 0%. Source: FAO AQUASTAT.
What are the rules on Saint Lucia beaches?
·Tap water: Varies.
✓Plastic rules: Styrofoam and single use plastics, phased 2019 to 2020.
✕Solo travel: rated take care on the record for this destination.
✕Marine protection: 0.3% of the sea is protected. The 30x30 pledge for 2030 is not met yet.
Named on the open map: Anse Cochon Beach, Anse L'Ivrogne Beach, Honeymoon Beach, Piaye Beach, River Doree Beach, Balembouche beach, Choiseul village public beach, Pebble beach. That is 8 named beaches in the public record for St Lucia, each one a place you can look up before you go. OpenStreetMap.
Where does the sewage go?
83.4%
of people have at least basic sanitation
83.4% of people here use at least a basic toilet not shared with other households (2022, 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 Saint Lucia doing?
One cross-section, every answer measured.
Surface
What the coast carries
Sea-turtle nesting March–November (leatherback, hawksbill, green); hawksbill peaks Aug–Sept, hatchlings ~October. Grande Anse is the main leatherback beach.
Nearshore
Protected water
0.3% of territorial waters are protected, against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
The record
Measured
St Lucia looks wet and is not reliably so. The John Compton Dam on the Roseau River, completed in October 1995, holds 2.6 million cubic metres and supplies the north of the island through the Hill 20 treatment plant.
Saint Lucia scored 74 out of 100 on the Ocean Health Index in its 2025 assessment, above the global average of 72, and ranked 85th of 220 coastal regions. The index team says it is no longer updating scores, so the 2025 figures may be the last.
Sea protected
0.3%
Against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Threatened species
72 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Mammals, birds, fish and higher plants on the IUCN list.
Is the tap water safe in Saint Lucia?
WASCO, the Water and Sewerage Company, supplies piped water across Saint Lucia, and the island's water quality regulations require chlorinated water to be tested by authorised persons. We could not find published test results. In June 2026 WASCO said several sources were below half their normal capacity, with production down by as much as 60 per cent in some areas, and that it was keeping up water quality testing across the affected systems so that water delivered meets safety standards. Soufriere and several southern communities were on scheduled supply, and residents were asked to store water safely. Where your water comes from a storage tank, a truck or a rainwater cistern, or after a storm, boil or filter it.
How hard is the water supply being pushed?
Of every 10 buckets nature refills, 1 are already taken. Withdrawals run at 14.3% of what St Lucia 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 seaweed again carpeted Saint Lucia's coastline in 2025. In May 2025 the Department of Fisheries said the main public complaints were the look and the smell of the stranded mats, which also block fishers' landing sites, and that it could not speak to the health risks. It treated the influx as a chance for fishers rather than a crisis: the floating mats gather fish, and some fishers reported bigger catches of dolphin fish and jacks. The ministry supplied an ice machine and ice bins for the extra catch, and is looking at using sargassum for compost, animal feed and bioenergy.
When is the best time to visit St Lucia? Tap your month.
Tap your month.
How much fresh water does Saint Lucia actually have?
Nature renews about 1,678 cubic metres of fresh water per person per year here. That ranks St Lucia 77 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.
FAO AQUASTAT · WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme · World Bank Open Data · Ocean Health Index, Saint Lucia · Ocean Health Index, Global scores · Office of the Prime Minister, Saint Lucia, Managed supply continues across Soufriere as southern water sources remain low (12 June 2026) · Attorney General's Chambers, Public Health (Water Quality Control) Regulations · Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Saint Lucia, Sargassum accumulation along Saint Lucia's coastline (12 May 2025)
Food and Drink in Saint Lucia.
The food import bill was EC$564 million in 2024, the latest year on the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank's Food Import Bill Tracker, up from EC$544 million in 2023, and the largest categories are meat, fruit and vegetables, and cereals. That is the honest backdrop. What is genuinely grown here is worth seeking out: soursop, squash, corn, eggplant, dragon fruit, lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage, chives, parsley, yam, dasheen and tania.
Where does the food in Saint Lucia come from?
27.6% imported
about US$139m a year
On the plate: Bananas (leading crop), coconuts, plantains, breadfruit, dasheen, yams, sweet potatoes, national dish is green fig (green banana) and saltfish.
How often each food is on the plate
Share of people eating each one regularly. These overlap, so they do not add up to 100%.
Coconuts51%
Plantains42%
Breadfruit33%
Dasheen24%
Yams15%
3 of 10
bites are imported
The island buys in more food energy than it eats. About US$139m a year leaves the country to pay for it. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
About 27.6% of everything St Lucia buys in from abroad is food, roughly 3 in every 10 imported items on the dock (2020, World Bank). Farming itself is 1.7% of the economy and 16.3% of the land is agricultural, of which 4.4% is arable. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
What is killing people in Saint Lucia? The imported diet.
Cause of death, and the diet behind it.
Non-communicable diseases, all combined52.8%
Diabetes11.4%
The Saint Lucia Diabetes and Hypertension Association reported 131 amputees in 2013, 129 of them because of diabetes, and 100 diabetes amputations in 2014. Source: The Voice, November 2015.
Adults living with overweight or obesity. 62.6%.
Can Saint Lucia feed itself?
4.4%
Arable land
16.3%
Agricultural land
7,606
Farmers
6,598
Arable acres
1.7%
Agriculture, share of GDP
Harvest: Bananas year-round; also cocoa, coconut, mango, avocado
Feeding itself
The food import bill was EC$564 million in 2024, the latest year on the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank's Food Import Bill Tracker, up from EC$544 million in 2023, and the largest categories are meat, fruit and vegetables, and cereals. That is the honest backdrop.
Certification
Cocoa is where the credible growing story sits: Fond Doux is a historic working estate taking you from pod through fermentation to sun drying, and Hotel Chocolat's Rabot Estate, bought in 2006, is described as the oldest cacao farm on the island. Neither is presented to us as certified organic, so we are not going to say they are.
Water for crops
St Lucia looks wet and is not reliably so. The John Compton Dam on the Roseau River, completed in October 1995, holds 2.6 million cubic metres and supplies the north of the island through the Hill 20 treatment plant.
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: 16.3% of the country is agricultural land and 4.4% 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
CoconutsBananasTropical fruitsFruitsRoot vegetablesPlantainsVegetablesCassava
The food that already fits
The plant-based kitchen here is not an import. By tonnage, the largest crops grown in St Lucia are coconuts, bananas and plantains and cooking bananas (FAO, FAOSTAT crop production, 2024). That is what the land itself puts on a plate.
Buy direct where residents buy: Castries Central Market, Marchand Market, Soufrière Vegetables Market, St Lucia's farmer market, Choiseul street market. Each is a mapped, named marketplace, so the money stays with the seller rather than the importer. OpenStreetMap.
Checked kitchens from the directory: Jah Lamb's Vegetarian: A one-table ital kitchen in a green house in downtown Soufrière, run for over a decade by Jah Lamb, who cooks then sits down to eat with you; Emeralds at Anse Chastanet: A wholly vegan restaurant serving modern tapas-style plates, created with James Beard winner Allen Susser; It's Alive Bakery & Fermentory: St Lucia's only fully plant-based bakery and fermentory: handcrafted sourdough and kombucha; Orlando's Restaurant & Bar: Small restaurant in the garden courtyard of chef Orlando Satchell's own home, opened 2012; ALOR Vegan Cafe, cafe in Soufriere: Family-run all-vegan gem; power bowls, homemade sea moss/sorrel drinks. Every kitchen listed here is checked for how plant based the menu really is before it earns its place.
Is this grown in Saint Lucia?
Tap a food for the honest answer.
CoconutsPlantainsBreadfruitDasheenYamsSweet potatoes
Climate and Energy in Saint Lucia.
Saint Lucia is a relatively low per-capita emitter at about 1.62 tonnes of CO2 per person, yet this reflects small scale rather than clean energy, since more than 99% of its electricity is generated from imported diesel. Utility-scale renewables amount to only a few megawatts of solar, and roughly 92% of the island's primary energy comes from petroleum products. The country holds ambitious targets and is exploring an estimated 680 MW of geothermal potential, but progress on the ground has been slow. The near-total dependence on imported fossil fuel, with renewables still marginal, keeps the score low despite modest absolute emissions.
What powers Saint Lucia?
Renewable 2.5%Fossil 97.5%
St Lucia Electricity Services (LUCELEC), listed on the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange, holds an exclusive licence under the Electricity Supply Act 1994 to generate, transmit, distribute and sell electricity, except for generation from renewable sources. Its 2025 annual report shows Emera (St. Lucia), First Citizens Bank and the National Insurance Corporation each holding 19.55 per cent of all shares, the Castries Constituency Council 15.15 per cent and the Government of Saint Lucia 12.09 per cent, with the rest widely held. The National Utilities Regulatory Commission (NURC) regulates the company. The Act sets electricity rates as a base rate plus a fuel rate that follows actual fuel costs, and the government gets a 10 per cent discount on its own electricity.
Climate pollution per person
The safe amount, what the planet can absorb
2 tonnes
One person here
1.71 tonnes
The world average, for comparison
4.7 tonnes
The worst it ever got
1.71 tonnes
The grid
Saint Lucia is a relatively low per-capita emitter at about 1.71 tonnes of CO2 per person, yet this reflects small scale rather than clean energy, since more than 99% of its electricity is generated from imported diesel. Utility-scale renewables amount to only a few megawatts of solar, and roughly 92% of the island's primary energy comes from petroleum products.
Pollution
The Styrofoam and Plastic (Prohibition) Act passed on 11 June 2019. Phase one banned importation of Styrofoam and selected single use plastic food containers from 1 August 2019. The restrictions on manufacture, sale, distribution and use of those items were suspended and took effect on 1 August 2021, the same date importation of styrofoam egg cartons and plastic forks, spoons, knives, straws and stirrers was banned, with their manufacture, sale, distribution and use following from 1 August 2022.
Water stress
St Lucia looks wet and is not reliably so. The John Compton Dam on the Roseau River, completed in October 1995, holds 2.6 million cubic metres and supplies the north of the island through the Hill 20 treatment plant.
What pollutes most here
1The grid The share of electricity still generated from fossil fuel.97.5%
2Industry Cruise tourism (Castries port).named
3Air Modelled annual mean against a WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.10.4 µg/m³ (PM2.5)
4On the record The Styrofoam and Plastic (Prohibition) Act passed on 11 June 2019.
What has Saint Lucia promised on climate?
Electricity renewable today2.5% (2021)
Land protected, against a 30% target18.2% by 2025
Sea protected, against a 30% target0.3% by 2025
Measured on delivery, 2.5% of electricity is already renewable (2021, World Bank), so 97.5% 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 year1.71 t CO2e
Safe-climate budget, per year2 t CO2e
Singapore return, economy3.18 t CO2e
Sydney return, economy2.9 t CO2e
Dubai return, economy2.14 t CO2e
Johannesburg return, economy1.91 t CO2e
Frankfurt return, economy1.33 t CO2e
How much CO2 does flying to Saint Lucia emit?
Tap where you would fly from. One return flight, economy.
Firsts on climate finance. CCRIF, the regional disaster insurer, has paid Saint Lucia about US$8.5 million in seven payouts. The largest were US$3.78 million under its excess rainfall policy after Tropical Cyclone Matthew in September 2016 and US$3.24 million after Tomas in October 2010. It also paid US$418,976 after an earthquake in November 2007, US$794,763 after Maria in 2017, and smaller sums after Dorian in 2019 and Elsa in 2021.
AI and Data Centres in Saint Lucia.
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 Saint Lucia.
Data centres
0
Registered colocation and interconnection facilities, PeeringDB, 2026
Grid renewable
2.5 %
What a machine here runs on.
What powers a data centre in Saint Lucia?
Almost everything a machine here consumes is burned fossil fuel.
Renewable 2.5%Fossil 97.5%
Cooling water. Every one of those halls runs on the national grid, which is 2.5% renewable today (World Bank). A data centre is only as clean as the electricity behind it. Cooling water use is not separately published by facility, and no operator here reports it.
The rules. St Lucia has 0 colocation and interconnection facilities on the public PeeringDB register, and no internet exchange is registered.
Where the cables land. 2 landing points · Castries, Rodney Bay
Economy and Tourism in Saint Lucia.
13% residents to 87% visitors across a year. 1,220,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 180,149 people who live here (2025, World Bank / UN Tourism).
Where a visitor dollar goes in St Lucia
433k
Visitors a year
2.4
Visitors per resident
How deep in debt is Saint Lucia?· for every $100 Saint Lucia earns in a year, it owes…
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · the 2020 peak
$ 94The worst year on the IMF record. St Lucia owed $94 for every $100 it earned.
IMF World Economic Outlook, 2020signed, the creditors
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · today
$ 78What 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
$ 77The IMF's own forecast has this falling to $77 by 2031.
IMF World Economic Outlook projection, 2031signed, the forecast
For every $100 St Lucia earns in a year, it owes $78 (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 Saint Lucia?
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. 1,220,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 180,149 residents, 6.8 visitors for every resident (World Bank / UN Tourism).
$100 in play2
The bed
Who owns the largest places to stay in St Lucia 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 27.6% of everything St Lucia imports (2020, World Bank), so a large part of every restaurant bill is paid to a supplier abroad. Eating what the land here actually grows, coconuts, bananas, tropical fruits, fruits, root vegetables, plantains, vegetables, cassava, keeps that money with the grower.
sails in4
The power
97.5% 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 St Lucia. Choosing locally grown food is the part of that a visitor can actually control.
less than you think6
Pay the bank first
St Lucia owes $78 for every $100 it earns (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). The interest is paid before anything else on this board.
$78 per $1007
Community chest
Tourism earns 88.8% of everything St Lucia makes from exports (2018, World Bank / UN Tourism). That is how much of the economy depends on the game continuing.
88.8% of exports8
The flight
Getting here is usually the biggest single line on the bill. From Singapore a return economy seat is 3.18 t CO2, on the UK Government's published conversion factors. It is the one part of the trip this board cannot reduce.
3.18 t CO29
Back to GO
The economy turns over about US$3 billion a year (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). Every lap of this board is a choice about how much of it stays.
US$3bnGDPUS$2.7bn
Agriculture, share of GDP1.7%
Visitors a year432,500
Visitors per resident2.4
Residents~180,149
Agriculture
Farming is 1.7% of the economy. The food import bill was EC$564 million in 2024, the latest year on the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank's Food Import Bill Tracker, up from EC$544 million in 2023, and the largest categories are meat, fruit and vegetables, and cereals.
Natural materials
Choiseul is the strongest living craft village in our Caribbean coverage, and almost everything it makes replaces something you would otherwise buy in plastic. The materials are all worked from the land: sisal, khus khus grass, screw pine, bamboo, coconut, calabash, seeds and stone, cleaned, dried, then woven, plaited and sewn.
Energy
Saint Lucia is a relatively low per-capita emitter at about 1.71 tonnes of CO2 per person, yet this reflects small scale rather than clean energy, since more than 99% of its electricity is generated from imported diesel. Utility-scale renewables amount to only a few megawatts of solar, and roughly 92% of the island's primary energy comes from petroleum products.
Who owns the biggest hotels in Saint Lucia?
By rooms · company records and press.
Fond Doux Eco ResortOwnership not publishednot published
Rabot Hotel (Hotel Chocolat)Ownership not publishednot published
Anse Chastanet ResortOwnership not publishednot published
Balenbouche Estate · ~5 roomsIndependentnot published
Visitors, over time
20151,031k
2016948k
20171,064k
20181,165k
20191,220k
2020432k
International tourism receipts run at about US$0.99 billion in 2018 (World Bank / UN Tourism). That is 88.8% of everything the country earns from exports.
How much of your money actually stays here?
Tap the holiday you are planning.
Visiting Saint Lucia, 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 bananas (leading crop), coconuts, plantains, breadfruit, dasheen, yams, sweet potatoes; national dish is green fig (green banana) and saltfish. over imported menus. The checked list
2. Book with a local operator Never the lobby desk. The margin on a tour is the part that stays.
3. Stay somewhere locally owned Ownership decides where the room rate books.
4. Use the transport residents use Minibus along the coast roads; the north to south drive is slow, so pick your base
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
St Lucia is the island of the Pitons, two volcanic spires rising straight out of the sea at Soufrière, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Around them is a drive in volcano, sulphur springs you can bathe in, rainforest walks and a serious cocoa tradition, with estates running tree to bar experiences on land that has grown cacao for centuries.
Best time: December to April is the dry season. May to November is greener, wetter and quieter, with hurricane season running June to November. The Pitons are best walked early, before the heat.
Getting around
Minibus along the coast roads; the north to south drive is slow, so pick your base
Transport is where the fare either stays or leaves.
Eating here
The everyday plate is bananas (leading crop), coconuts, plantains, breadfruit, dasheen, yams, sweet potatoes; national dish is green fig (green banana) and saltfish.. Castries Central Market was built in 1891 and opened on 2 July 1894, and it still carries over 300 regular vendors, open Monday to Saturday and busiest on Friday and Saturday.
Eating what the country grows is the cheapest way to cut the import bill.
Good to know
Water is rationed here more often than the brochures suggest, particularly in the north between January and May. Expect it, and do not be the guest running a tap.
There is no formal recycling on the island, so what you bring in mostly stays in. Refill rather than buying cases of bottled water.
Divers pay a user fee inside the Soufriere Marine Management Area, which funds the reef management, and touching or standing on coral is prohibited. Buy your craft in Choiseul from the people who made it rather than from a souvenir shop in Castries.
Rate my hotel. Tap yours for the honest verdict.
Ownership from company records and press.
Who owns the big hotels
Fond Doux Eco ResortOwnership not published
Rabot Hotel (Hotel Chocolat)Ownership not published
Anse Chastanet ResortOwnership not published
Balenbouche EstateIndependent · 5 rooms
None of the 4 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 Saint Lucia.
How well is St Lucia actually run?
Governance, measured · World Bank WGI
Four measured answers, none of them opinion. Averaged across corruption control, delivery and accountability, St Lucia scores 60 out of 100 (2024, World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators). That is a state that generally does what it says it will do, which is what makes a climate pledge worth reading.
What is daily life in Saint Lucia really like? Measured
Getting around, breathing, throwing away, learning. The honest checklist.
TransportAirWaterWastePower
✓How you get around Minibus along the coast roads; the north to south drive is slow, so pick your base
Made in Saint Lucia.
Choiseul is the strongest living craft village in our Caribbean coverage, and almost everything it makes replaces something you would otherwise buy in plastic. The materials are all worked from the land: sisal, khus khus grass, screw pine, bamboo, coconut, calabash, seeds and stone, cleaned, dried, then woven, plaited and sewn. Every step of processing done at home is value that stops leaving the country.
What Saint Lucia actually sells the world
Central Statistics Office figures show Saint Lucia earned EC$81.4 million, about US$30.2 million, from domestic exports in 2025, down from EC$107.8 million in 2022, plus EC$162.7 million from re-exports. It spent EC$2.46 billion, about US$913 million, on imports, roughly ten times the value of all its exports combined. Bananas earned EC$3.0 million in 2025 from about 2,400 tonnes, most of it shipped to Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados. The Eastern Caribbean dollar is pegged at EC$2.70 to the US dollar.
Made now · natural materials
Khus khus grass
Worked in St Lucia from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Screw pine
Worked in St Lucia from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Bamboo
Worked in St Lucia from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Coconut
Worked in St Lucia from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Calabash
Worked in St Lucia from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Could make · grown here already
Bananas (leading crop)
Grown in St Lucia and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
Coconuts
Grown in St Lucia and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
Plantains
Grown in St Lucia and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
The maths for an entrepreneur. St Lucia produces about US$3 billion a year, which is roughly US$14,746 per person (2025, World Bank). Farming is 1.7% of that, while food is 27.6% 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.
See the verified makersCulture in Saint Lucia.
Kwéyòl (Saint Lucian Creole) language
English is the official language, but Saint Lucian Creole is widely spoken and is celebrated each year on Jounen Kwéyòl.
Does Saint Lucia protect its heritage by law?
Partly, and the gaps say as much as the protections.
What is kept alive. Saint Lucia sustains a vibrant Afro-French Creole heritage that remains part of everyday life. Kwéyòl (Saint Lucian Creole) is widely spoken, celebrated each October in the island-wide Jounen Kwéyòl, and the rival flower societies of La Rose and La Marguerite, dating from 1758, still stage their singing, costume and feast-day festivals. Traditional kwadril dancing, along with zouk, calypso and soca, animate community life, and the Kélé ceremony preserves an African-derived ancestral rite honouring the ancestors and the spirits.
Who it belongs to. Jounen Kwéyòl is the island's observance of International Creole Day, held on the last Sunday of October, and it is genuinely community hosted rather than a resort product. International Creole Day was established in 1983 under the Bannzil Kreyol banner, and St Lucia's became a community based event in 1984. Host villages rotate and are announced each year, so where you go changes annually.
Only here. The Pitons Management Area is St Lucia's only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed under the natural criteria for its scenic beauty and its volcanic geology. Inside it sit two volcanic spires rising straight from the sea, the geothermal Sulphur Springs with sulphurous fumaroles and hot springs, and fringing and patch reefs that UNESCO calls healthy and that cover more than 60 per cent of the marine area..
The Future of Saint Lucia.
Three futures for Saint Lucia, every one run forward from measured data.
Where the making actually happens
Named cultural and craft sites on the open map: Choiseul Art & Craft Centre & National Skills Development Centre (Choiseul), The Morne Museum (Castries), Diamond Botanical Garden (Soufrière), Latille Botanical Gardens (Micoud). 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 46% to 53.8% across 29 recorded years.
How much climate pollution per person?
CO2 per person moved from 0.56 t to 1.71 t across 29 recorded years.
How many people visit?
Tourist arrivals moved from 407k to 432k across 25 recorded years.
How much land is protected?
Protected land moved from 16.9% to 18.2% across 12 recorded years.
How many people still farm?
Farm workforce moved from 24.7% to 7.47% across 30 recorded years.
How much land is farmed?
Agricultural land moved from 29.5% to 16.3% across 29 recorded years.
How fast is it urbanising?
Urban population moved from 29.2% to 29.1% across 30 recorded years.
Is the air getting cleaner?
Air pollution moved from 11.8 µg/m³ to 10.4 µg/m³ across 28 recorded years.
Is water getting scarcer?
Fresh water per person moved from 2,024 m³ to 1,678 m³ across 27 recorded years.
Is diet-related disease rising?
Adult overweight moved from 40.9% to 62.6% across 27 recorded years.
Who has power?
Electricity access moved from 86% to 100% across 24 recorded years.
Is income rising?
GDP per person moved from 5,148 to 14,746 across 30 recorded years.
How fast is it growing?
Population moved from 148k to 180k across 30 recorded years.
What share of all energy is renewable?
Renewable energy use moved from 29.7% to 9.7% across 27 recorded years.
How much land and sea is protected together?
Protected area, total moved from 0.7% to 1% across 12 recorded years.
How long do people live?
Life expectancy moved from 71.2 yrs to 72.8 yrs across 29 recorded years.
How much fertiliser goes on the land?
Fertiliser use moved from 99 kg/ha to 200 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How many people still live rurally?
Rural population moved from 70.8% to 70.9% across 30 recorded years.
How much value per cubic metre of water?
Water productivity moved from 39.7 $/m3 to 46.9 $/m3 across 15 recorded years.
How much goes on health?
Health spending moved from 4.87% to 4.73% across 23 recorded years.
How much forest is there in total?
Forest area moved from 281 km2 to 328 km2 across 30 recorded years.
How have agriculture emissions moved?
Agriculture emissions moved from 0.05 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 0.03 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have electricity/heat emissions moved?
Electricity/Heat emissions moved from 0.1 to 0.26 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have energy emissions moved?
Energy emissions moved from 0.2 to 0.55 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have transportation emissions moved?
Transportation emissions moved from 0.09 to 0.24 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 St Lucia's record. The food import bill was EC$564 million in 2024, the latest year on the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank's Food Import Bill Tracker, up from EC$544 million in 2023, and the largest categories are meat, fruit and vegetables, and cereals.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift organic farming
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of St Lucia's record. Cocoa is where the credible growing story sits: Fond Doux is a historic working estate taking you from pod through fermentation to sun drying, and Hotel Chocolat's Rabot Estate, bought in 2006, is described as the oldest cacao farm on the island.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift energy
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of St Lucia's record. Saint Lucia is a relatively low per-capita emitter at about 1.62 tonnes of CO2 per person, yet this reflects small scale rather than clean energy, since more than 99% of its electricity is generated from imported diesel.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Government and Goals in Saint Lucia.
Who is in charge of Saint Lucia 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.
Philip J. Pierre
Prime Minister
Philip J. Pierre is the head of government of St Lucia, in office since 28 July 2021. 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 71.2 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Unchanged from 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Control of corruption scores 57.8 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 57.2 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Political stability and absence of violence scores 85.4 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 83.8 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Rule of law scores 68.0 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 67.3 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Regulatory quality scores 59.3 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 58.3 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Philip J. PierrePrime Minister
Houses of ParliamentLegislature, bicameral
Last election1 December 2025
Constitution1978
Government typeparliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Saint Lucia 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
! behindTarget 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted by more than 190 parties in December 2022. St Lucia currently protects 18.2% of its land, which is 61% of the way to the pledge. Source
2030
30% of sea protected
✕ far behindThe marine half of the same 30x30 pledge. St Lucia currently protects 0.3% of its territorial waters, which is 1% of the way there. Source
2030
Paris Agreement pledge
on recordSt Lucia 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 forceStyrofoam and single use plastics, phased 2019 to 2020.
Grid, as it stands
2.5% renewableRecorded renewable share of electricity output, the number every energy pledge is measured against. Source
Plain Answers About Saint Lucia.
The questions people actually type, answered in full sentences from the sourced data above.
Swipe
Is St Lucia sustainable?
St Lucia scores 60 out of 100 on the Throne Eco Index, across twelve equally weighted pillars. St Lucia is the island of the Pitons, two volcanic spires rising straight out of the sea at Soufrière, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Around them is a drive in volcano, sulphur springs you can bathe in, rainforest walks and a serious cocoa tradition, with estates running tree to bar experiences on land that has grown cacao for centuries.
Is the water in St Lucia safe and plentiful?
St Lucia looks wet and is not reliably so. The John Compton Dam on the Roseau River, completed in October 1995, holds 2.6 million cubic metres and supplies the north of the island through the Hill 20 treatment plant. Silt has been accumulating since Hurricane Tomas in 2010 and a severe trough in December 2013, and when dry season levels drop below the lower draw off port the utility has to ration.
Can St Lucia feed itself?
The food import bill was EC$564 million in 2024, the latest year on the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank's Food Import Bill Tracker, up from EC$544 million in 2023, and the largest categories are meat, fruit and vegetables, and cereals. That is the honest backdrop. What is genuinely grown here is worth seeking out: soursop, squash, corn, eggplant, dragon fruit, lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage, chives, parsley, yam, dasheen and tania.
Is it easy to eat plant-based in St Lucia?
Castries Central Market was built in 1891 and opened on 2 July 1894, and it still carries over 300 regular vendors, open Monday to Saturday and busiest on Friday and Saturday. It is the real thing rather than a craft market with produce attached. Cassava bread is the living plant based tradition to look for, still made at Fond Latisab in Babonneau, where you can watch the whole process.
How much of St Lucia is actually protected?
42 protected areas are recorded, and here is the number that tells you the most: only four of the 42 have ever undergone a management effectiveness evaluation. Strong designation, thin assessment. The Pitons Management Area is the island's only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed on 30 June 2004 under natural criteria, covering 2,909 hectares.
What wildlife is left in St Lucia?
The St Lucia parrot is endemic and is the national bird. It fell to roughly 150 birds by the late 1970s, reached about 300 by 1990 and has kept climbing, which is a genuine recovery, though current estimates conflict enough that we will not print a single figure. The St Lucia whiptail is the rarer story.
Is St Lucia on clean energy?
Saint Lucia is a relatively low per-capita emitter at about 1.71 tonnes of CO2 per person, yet this reflects small scale rather than clean energy, since more than 99% of its electricity is generated from imported diesel. Utility-scale renewables amount to only a few megawatts of solar, and roughly 92% of the island's primary energy comes from petroleum products. The country holds ambitious targets and is exploring an estimated 680 MW of geothermal potential, but progress on the ground has been slow.
How polluted is St Lucia?
The Styrofoam and Plastic (Prohibition) Act passed on 11 June 2019. Phase one banned importation of Styrofoam and selected single use plastic food containers from 1 August 2019. The restrictions on manufacture, sale, distribution and use of those items were suspended and took effect on 1 August 2021, the same date importation of styrofoam egg cartons and plastic forks, spoons, knives, straws and stirrers was banned, with their manufacture, sale, distribution and use following from 1 August 2022. The part nobody advertises is that St Lucia has no formal recycling programme.
Does recycling work in St Lucia?
St Lucia has no formal recycling programme. Some plastic recycling initiatives began between 2023 and 2024 and have since stopped. Deglos Sanitary Landfill near Castries was commissioned in 2001 with a twenty year design life and was around half full as of 2021, fed by a transfer facility at Vieux Fort shipping waste up six days a week.
Is the farming in St Lucia organic?
Cocoa is where the credible growing story sits: Fond Doux is a historic working estate taking you from pod through fermentation to sun drying, and Hotel Chocolat's Rabot Estate, bought in 2006, is described as the oldest cacao farm on the island. Neither is presented to us as certified organic, so we are not going to say they are. The genuinely low input crop here is sea moss.
Are there natural materials and craft in St Lucia?
Choiseul is the strongest living craft village in our Caribbean coverage, and almost everything it makes replaces something you would otherwise buy in plastic. The materials are all worked from the land: sisal, khus khus grass, screw pine, bamboo, coconut, calabash, seeds and stone, cleaned, dried, then woven, plaited and sewn. So the swap is easy here.
Is there living culture in St Lucia?
Jounen Kwéyòl is the island's observance of International Creole Day, held on the last Sunday of October, and it is genuinely community hosted rather than a resort product. International Creole Day was established in 1983 under the Bannzil Kreyol banner, and St Lucia's became a community based event in 1984. Host villages rotate and are announced each year, so where you go changes annually.
What heritage does St Lucia keep alive?
Saint Lucia sustains a vibrant Afro-French Creole heritage that remains part of everyday life. Kwéyòl (Saint Lucian Creole) is widely spoken, celebrated each October in the island-wide Jounen Kwéyòl, and the rival flower societies of La Rose and La Marguerite, dating from 1758, still stage their singing, costume and feast-day festivals. Traditional kwadril dancing, along with zouk, calypso and soca, animate community life, and the Kélé ceremony preserves an African-derived ancestral rite honouring the ancestors and the spirits.
So is St Lucia 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: sea protected at 0.3% against a 30% mark, renewable electricity at 2.5% against a 100% mark.
How Saint Lucia Ranks, region and world.
Where Saint Lucia sits on the Eco Index, against its Caribbean neighbours and the 77 destinations scored worldwide.
How does Saint Lucia compare in Caribbean?
1Dominica72
2Belize70
4Jamaica67
5Grenada62
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
Saint Lucia sits 57 of 77 at 60/100. Every name links to its own destination page, built exactly like this one. The full ranking
What is Saint Lucia particularly good at?
✓ Natural fibres, scored 5/5. Choiseul is the strongest living craft village in our Caribbean coverage, and almost everything it makes replaces something you would otherwise buy in plastic. The materials are all worked from the land: sisal, khus khus grass, screw pine, bamboo, coconut, calabash, seeds and stone, cleaned, dried, then woven, plaited and sewn.
✓ Heritage, scored 5/5. Saint Lucia sustains a vibrant Afro-French Creole heritage that remains part of everyday life. Kwéyòl (Saint Lucian Creole) is widely spoken, celebrated each October in the island-wide Jounen Kwéyòl, and the rival flower societies of La Rose and La Marguerite, dating from 1758, still stage their singing, costume and feast-day festivals. Traditional kwadril dancing, along with zouk, calypso and soca, animate community life, and the Kélé ceremony preserves an African-derived ancestral rite honouring the ancestors and the spirits. This living blend of African, French and Creole practice, carried in language, music, dance and ancestral tradition, marks a deep and widely alive heritage.
✓ Water, scored 4/5. St Lucia looks wet and is not reliably so. The John Compton Dam on the Roseau River, completed in October 1995, holds 2.6 million cubic metres and supplies the north of the island through the Hill 20 treatment plant. Silt has been accumulating since Hurricane Tomas in 2010 and a severe trough in December 2013, and when dry season levels drop below the lower draw off port the utility has to ration.
Where does Saint Lucia score worst?
✕ Food and farming, scored 1/5. The food import bill was EC$564 million in 2024, the latest year on the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank's Food Import Bill Tracker, up from EC$544 million in 2023, and the largest categories are meat, fruit and vegetables, and cereals. That is the honest backdrop.
✕ Organic farming, scored 1/5. Cocoa is where the credible growing story sits: Fond Doux is a historic working estate taking you from pod through fermentation to sun drying, and Hotel Chocolat's Rabot Estate, bought in 2006, is described as the oldest cacao farm on the island. Neither is presented to us as certified organic, so we are not going to say they are.
✕ Energy, scored 1/5. Saint Lucia is a relatively low per-capita emitter at about 1.62 tonnes of CO2 per person, yet this reflects small scale rather than clean energy, since more than 99% of its electricity is generated from imported diesel. Utility-scale renewables amount to only a few megawatts of solar, and roughly 92% of the island's primary energy comes from petroleum products. The country holds ambitious targets and is exploring an estimated 680 MW of geothermal potential, but progress on the ground has been slow. The near-total dependence on imported fossil fuel, with renewables still marginal, keeps the score low despite modest absolute emissions.
A note from the lens of mother natureSwipe
Food and farming, 1/5
The food import bill was EC$564 million in 2024, the latest year on the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank's Food Import Bill Tracker, up from EC$544 million in 2023, and the largest categories are meat, fruit and vegetables, and cereals. That is the honest backdrop.
Consequence: It is the lowest-scoring part of St Lucia's record, so it is where the score moves first.
Organic farming, 1/5
Cocoa is where the credible growing story sits: Fond Doux is a historic working estate taking you from pod through fermentation to sun drying, and Hotel Chocolat's Rabot Estate, bought in 2006, is described as the oldest cacao farm on the island.
Energy, 1/5
Saint Lucia is a relatively low per-capita emitter at about 1.62 tonnes of CO2 per person, yet this reflects small scale rather than clean energy, since more than 99% of its electricity is generated from imported diesel.
The Saint Lucia Directory.
Everything on Hold The Throne that sits in Saint Lucia, checked and listed.
How the rest of the world scores Saint Lucia
Independent global indices, for calibration.
Forest cover
53.8
World Bank, 2024.
Protected land
18.2
World Bank, 2025.
Protected sea
0.3
World Bank, 2025.
Renewable grid
2.5
World Bank, 2021.
CO2 per person
1.7
World Bank, 2024.
Threatened species
72 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
Control of corruption
57.8 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Government effectiveness
58.9 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Rule of law
68.0 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Political stability
85.4 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Voice and accountability
71.2 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Environmental Performance Index
44.5 / 100 · 72 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 72 of 177 countries assessed.
Ecosystem vitality
41.2 / 100 · 107 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 107 of 177 countries assessed.
Biodiversity and habitat
38.0 / 100 · 108 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 108 of 177 countries assessed.
Air quality
50.5 / 100 · 52 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 52 of 177 countries assessed.
Terrestrial biomes protected
52.0 / 100 · 98 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 98 of 177 countries assessed.
Marine habitat protected
11.7 / 100 · 72 of 111
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 72 of 111 countries assessed.
How Saint Lucia 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: 90 sources across 47 institutions
World Bank18 FIGURES
- forest cover 34.1%, 2023
- CO2 emissions per capita EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5, 2024 check
- 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
- PM2.5 air pollution mean annual exposure EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3, 2023 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
- 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
- Renewable internal freshwater per capita (m3) ER.H2O.INTR.PC, 2022 check
- Overweight prevalence, adults (%) SH.STA.OWAD.ZS, 2022 check
- Central government debt (% of GDP) GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS, 2010 check
- Population total SP.POP.TOTL, 2025 check
- What a Waste 2.0 country-level dataset check
Saint Lucia Tourism Authority6 FIGURES
Department of Fisheries4 FIGURES
- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Saint Lucia, How to Behave Around Sea Turtles (2006), The Department of Fisheries publishes 'How to behave around sea turtles' guidance (keep ~15 m distance, no fla check
- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Saint Lucia, How to Behave Around Sea Turtles (2006) corroboration check
- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Saint Lucia, How to Behave Around Sea Turtles (2006) corroboration check
- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Saint Lucia, How to Behave Around Sea Turtles (2006) corroboration check
IUCN Red List4 FIGURES
- Leucopeza semperi (Semper's Warbler), assessed 31 August 2020, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia in GBIF occurrence data (bird). check
- Leucopeza semperi (Semper's Warbler), assessed 31 August 2020 corroboration check
- Cnemidophorus vanzoi (Saint Lucia Whiptail), assessed 22 July 2015, published 2016, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia in GBIF occurrence data (reptile). check
- Cnemidophorus vanzoi (Saint Lucia Whiptail), assessed 22 July 2015, published 2016 corroboration check
Other published sources4 FIGURES
- EC$544.38m in 2023 and EC$564.08m in 2024; categories are meat EC$119.2m, fruit and vegetables EC$93.2m, cereals EC$84.0m. EC$1.5bn is close to the whole ECCU total, and only for 2012 to 2013 check
- No such guidance is published by the Department of Fisheries on the government portal; the enforceable rule is regulation 33 check
- UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), Hawksbill Turtle species page, Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Lucia in GBIF occurrence data (turtle). check
- UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), Hawksbill Turtle species page corroboration check
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area (% of land area) AG_LND_FRST, St Lucia, 2025 (53.8%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area under a long-term management plan (%) AG_LND_FRSTMGT, St Lucia, 2025 (3.5%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area inside legally established protected areas (%) AG_LND_FRSTPRCT, St Lucia, 2025 (32.6%), country-reported check
IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.13 FIGURES
UNESCO World Heritage Centre3 FIGURES
- Pitons Management Area (property 1161), St Lucia is the island of the Pitons, two volcanic spires rising straight out of the sea at Soufrière, and a U check
- Pitons Management Area (property 1161) corroboration check
- States Parties: Saint Lucia, The Pitons Management Area is the island's only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed on 30 June 2004 under na check
BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC2 FIGURES
Caribbean Beat2 FIGURES
FAO2 FIGURES
- FAOSTAT Crops and Livestock Products (QCL), Americas bulk file, updated 31 December 2025, By tonnage, the largest crops grown in St Lucia are coconuts, bananas and plantains and cooking bananas (FAO check
- FAOSTAT Crops and Livestock Products (QCL), Americas bulk file, updated 31 December 2025 corroboration check
IUCN press release2 FIGURES
St Lucia Times2 FIGURES
BirdLife International1 FIGURE
- Saint Lucia amazon check
CBD1 FIGURE
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3 check
Central Statistical Office1 FIGURE
- Saint Lucia, national statistical authority for St Lucia check
Climate Tracker Caribbean1 FIGURE
- Saint Lucia fossil-fuel reliance (over 99% diesel electricity) check
Coconut Bay Sea Turtle programme1 FIGURE
- natural phenomena
Constitute Project1 FIGURE
- Saint Lucia 1978 check
FEE Blue Flag programme1 FIGURE
- St Lucia is not a participating country, 2025
FiBL/IFOAM1 FIGURE
- organic farmland 0.6%, 2023
Folk Research Centre1 FIGURE
- Jounen Kwéyòl check
Government of Saint Lucia1 FIGURE
- Styrofoam and plastics phase out check
Hotel Chocolat1 FIGURE
- Rabot Estate check
IFES ElectionGuide1 FIGURE
- St Lucia elections and chambers check
Logistics Cluster1 FIGURE
- Saint Lucia waste management check
Near Threatened1 FIGURE
- Majure, Griffith and Gann 2017 assessment, IUCN taxon 152237 check
Oryx1 FIGURE
- the St Lucia whiptail lizard conservation dilemma check
Pitons Management Area1 FIGURE
- Government of Saint Lucia check
Protected Planet1 FIGURE
- Saint Lucia check
Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards1 FIGURE
- drinking water standard SLNS 89:2021 check
Saint Lucia National Trust1 FIGURE
- national heritage and antiquities authority for St Lucia check
The 2020 stage was suspended; sale1 FIGURE
- use and distribution took effect 1 August 2021, with a further stage 1 August 2022 check
The Fish Site1 FIGURE
- the seamoss farmers of the Eastern Caribbean check
The named government work is the Integrated1 FIGURE
- Sustainable Road Transport Policy and Strategic Roadmap, 2023; no Caribbean Development Bank role or bus target is stated in any published record check
The STAR St Lucia1 FIGURE
- WASCO and the Sir John Compton Dam 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, St Lucia, 2024 (8.7%), modelled estimate check
UNESCO Institute for Statistics1 FIGURE
- public data API, Saint Lucia (LCA), Public spending on education runs at 3.8% of GDP and 12.7% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment check
UNFCCC1 FIGURE
- NDC Registry check
Vulnerable1 FIGURE
- BirdLife International 2020 assessment of Amazona versicolor; Schedule 1 listing confirmed at https://attorneygeneralchambers.com/laws-of-saint-lucia/wildlife-protection-act/schedule-1 check
WHO/UNICEF JMP1 FIGURE
- World Bank, drinking water 98.1% (at least basic), 2024
World Bank EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS1 FIGURE
- renewable electricity 2.5%, 2021