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 Vincent and the Grenadines at a Glance.
The score, and the four numbers that set the tone. 12 equally-weighted pillars, every pillar sourced.
Compare with:
Renewable power
13%
of electricity
Food imported
26%
of merchandise imports · ~US$132m 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 Vincent and the Grenadines.
The numbers and firsts that change how you see Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the sobering and the remarkable. Every one is dated and linked to its source.
SoberingHealth
Nearly a one in four risk of early death from NCDs
In 2021, a person aged 30 in St Vincent and the Grenadines had a 23.6% chance of dying before 70 from heart disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic lung disease, according to WHO estimates published by the World Bank.
SoberingHealth
Six in ten adults are overweight
In 2022, 61.5% of adults in St Vincent and the Grenadines were overweight, according to World Bank data drawn from WHO estimates.
SoberingFood
A quarter of imports are food
Food made up 26% of the country's merchandise imports in 2023.
SoberingEnvironment
Farmland gets 203 kg of fertiliser a hectare
Farmers in St Vincent and the Grenadines used 203 kg of fertiliser per hectare of arable land in 2024, according to World Bank data.
RemarkableNature
Nearly three quarters of the land is forest
Forest covered 73.4% of the land area of St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2024, according to World Bank data.
Worth knowingFood
Once the world's arrowroot capital
St Vincent was the world's leading producer of arrowroot starch until around 1965, when cheaper substitutes and more lucrative bananas led to its decline, according to a 1996 French technical report.
Worth knowingHistory
The Garifuna people were exiled from here
In 1796 the British removed most of St Vincent's Garifuna to the nearby islet of Baliceaux. Of the 4,195 exiled there, only 2,248 were left when they were shipped to Roatán off Central America in 1797, where most landed on 12 April.
Source: West India Committee, The exile of the Garinagu · 1797
The History of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Saint Vincent is the homeland of the Garifuna, a people of mixed indigenous Caribbean and African origin who were forced to leave for Central America in the eighteenth century. The Spiritual Baptist faith, once known as Shakerism, was outlawed from 1912 until 1965, and since 2025 its liberation day on 21 May has been a public holiday.
Where the name comes from
Youloumain or Hairouna in Kalinago, the latter usually read as 'land of the blessed'. Columbus applied the saint's name for the day he sighted it. Source: national and regional toponymic records.
The land itself: volcanic and mountainous, with an active volcano at the northern end of the main island. Its high point is La Soufrière, 1,234 m. Source: national mapping and survey records.
Where it starts
Hairouna
Saladoid potters lived on St Vincent long before contact, and Carib people held the island when Europeans arrived, resisting colonisation until 1719. The Garifuna, called Black Caribs by Europeans, descend from Carib people and from West Africans who were shipwrecked or had escaped slavery, and they speak a language descended directly from the one spoken in the Caribbean at the time of Columbus.
How it got here
Forty years, then Balliceaux
The Treaty of Paris handed the island to Britain in 1763 because Britain wanted Garifuna land for sugar. The Garifuna resisted for decades in a series of wars broken by uneasy peace, led by figures including Tourouya, Bigot and Chatoyer. After their defeat, 4,195 people were exiled to the small island of Balliceaux, and only 2,248 were left when they were shipped on in early 1797. Most landed on Roatán on 12 April 1797. Garifuna communities live today in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Belize.
The timeline
By c. 250 BC
Saladoid farmers.
Saladoid people from the Venezuela area, the first farmers on St Vincent, are living on the island by about 250 BC. Their pottery is decorated with small modelled animal heads. Source
From c. AD 1200
Kalinago islands.
Island Caribs, who called themselves Kalinago, arrive from the mainland around AD 1200 according to carbon dating. They grow cassava, yams, cotton and tobacco, and fish is an important part of their diet. Source
1600s
The Garifuna emerge.
Descendants of Carib people and of West Africans who were shipwrecked or had escaped slavery, called the Black Caribs by Europeans and known today as the Garifuna, meet Europeans as both adversaries and allies. Their language descends directly from the one spoken in the Caribbean at the time of Columbus. Source
1763
The island is signed away.
The Treaty of Paris hands the island to Britain, which wants Black Carib land for growing sugar. Source
1763 to 1797
Decades of resistance.
In a series of wars broken by uneasy peace, the Garifuna resist British attempts to take their land. Over the decades leaders including Tourouya, Bigot and Chatoyer organise the resistance of a society with no central authority. Source
14 March 1795
Chatoyer is killed.
Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer is killed in the battle for Dorsetshire Hill. In 2002 St Vincent and the Grenadines named him its first national hero. Source
1796 to 1797
Balliceaux.
After their defeat, most of the Garifuna are held on the small island of Balliceaux. Of the 4,195 exiled there, only 2,248 are left when they are shipped onwards in early 1797. Source
12 April 1797
Deportation to Roatan.
Most of the Garifuna survivors are landed on Roatán, off Central America, on 12 April 1797. Garifuna communities later spread along the Central American coast, and today most live in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Belize. Source
1834
Abolition.
Slavery is abolished in 1834, a generation after the Garifuna were deported from the island. Source
1979
Independence.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines becomes independent on 27 October. Source
Christopher Taylor, The Black Carib Wars, University Press of Mississippi · Chatoyer's Punch Ladle, Museum Anthropology Review · The Last Stand of the Black Caribs on St Vincent, University of Illinois · US Department of State, Background Note, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (July 2008) · Iosif Moravetz, Imaging Adornos, Saladoid Adornos from St Vincent, BAR Publishing · West India Committee, The exile of the Garinagu · UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Language, dance and music of the Garifuna · CIA World Factbook, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines background, archived data
Nature and Biodiversity in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
55 protected areas are recorded for the country. Tobago Cays Marine Park, established in 1998, covers roughly 50 square kilometres of sand bottomed lagoon around five uninhabited cays, enclosed by the 4km Horseshoe Reef, and takes in turtle nesting and feeding grounds and small mangrove systems. The standout is Ashton Lagoon on Union Island, and it deserves to be better known.
Is wild St Vincent and the Grenadines protected? 22.6% of the land is, against a 30% target for 2030
How protected is nature in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
Forest cover73.18%
Terrestrial protected area22.6%
Marine protected area0.2%
62 (mammals, birds, fish & plants) listed as threatened.
Found only here. St Vincent parrot; Union Island gecko
The watchlist
ThreatenedHawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines in GBIF occurrence data (turtle).
ThreatenedGonatodes daudini Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines in GBIF occurrence data (reptile).
ThreatenedPristimantis euphronides Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines in GBIF occurrence data (amphibian).
ThreatenedElkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedFire coral (Millepora complanata) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedChironius vincenti Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines in GBIF occurrence data (reptile).
ThreatenedReef starlet coral (Siderastrea siderea) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines in GBIF occurrence data (coral).
ThreatenedBrain coral (Pseudodiploria strigosa) Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines 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
Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines. GBIF holds 8 verified occurrence records.
Gonatodes daudini
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines. GBIF holds 5 verified occurrence records.
Pristimantis euphronides
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines. GBIF holds 5 verified occurrence records.
Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata)
Critically Endangered, the last IUCN category before Extinct in the Wild, and still recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines. GBIF holds 31 verified occurrence records.
Species named here are drawn from GBIF occurrence records for St Vincent and the Grenadines 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
Listed and checked on Hold The Throne. Visiting it is the most direct way a visitor funds work on the ground in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Listed and checked on Hold The Throne. Visiting it is the most direct way a visitor funds work on the ground in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Belmont Walkway and the Princess Margaret Trail
Listed and checked on Hold The Throne. Visiting it is the most direct way a visitor funds work on the ground in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Mount Peggy, or Peggy’s Rock
Listed and checked on Hold The Throne. Visiting it is the most direct way a visitor funds work on the ground in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Water and Ocean in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The mainland and the Grenadines are hydrologically opposite, and you should plan for both. St Vincent is volcanic and river fed: the Central Water and Sewerage Authority runs 12 catchments and pipes water to roughly 98 per cent of the island. The Grenadines have no public water system at all.
Does St Vincent and the Grenadines have enough fresh water? Yes, with headroom
Volcanic rivers and 12 catchments on St Vincent; rainwater cisterns and desalination in the Grenadines
Cleanest water: Tobago Cays Marine Park
How much fresh water does Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have, per person?
980 m³
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1,000 m³
the UN “water scarce” line
St Vincent and the Grenadines withdraws about 8 million cubic metres of fresh water a year (2022). That is 7.9% of the fresh water actually available to it, which FAO counts as no water stress. Of what is taken, farming takes 0%, homes and towns 100%, industry 0%. Source: FAO AQUASTAT.
What are the rules on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines beaches?
·Tap water: Varies.
✓Plastic rules: Styrofoam 2017; plastic bags and food containers phased 2020 to 2021.
✕Marine protection: 0.2% of the sea is protected. The 30x30 pledge for 2030 is not met yet.
Named on the open map: Villa Beach, Indian Bay Beach, Buccament Beach and Richmond Beach (St Vincent), Princess Margaret Bay Beach (Bequia), Macaroni Beach (Mustique), Big Mahault Beach (Canouan), Chatham Bay Beach (Union Island). That is 27 named beaches in the public record for St Vincent and the Grenadines, each one a place you can look up before you go. OpenStreetMap.
Where does the sewage go?
89.7%
of people have at least basic sanitation
89.7% of people here use at least a basic toilet not shared with other households (2018, 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 Vincent and the Grenadines doing?
One cross-section, every answer measured.
Surface
What the coast carries
Whale and dolphin watching (humpback, sperm, pilot) best December–April; hawksbill conservation at the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, Bequia.
Nearshore
Protected water
0.2% of territorial waters are protected, against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Cleanest
Where the water is cleanest
Tobago Cays Marine Park.
The record
Measured
The mainland and the Grenadines are hydrologically opposite, and you should plan for both. St Vincent is volcanic and river fed: the Central Water and Sewerage Authority runs 12 catchments and pipes water to roughly 98 per cent of the island.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines scored 75 out of 100 on the Ocean Health Index in its 2025 assessment, above the global average of 72, and ranked 64th of 220 coastal regions. The index team says it is no longer updating scores, so the 2025 figures may be the last.
Sea protected
0.2%
Against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Threatened species
62 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Mammals, birds, fish and higher plants on the IUCN list.
Is the tap water safe in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
The Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA) supplies piped water on St Vincent. It says the water is taken from rivers and springs, then treated and disinfected at treatment plants before it reaches homes, and it runs its own laboratory to monitor the quality of the drinking water from each source. It uses chlorine as the disinfectant and says a chlorine taste is a sign the water is safe, and that home filters are not usually needed if the supply runs clear and clean. CWSA does not publish its test results online, and these statements do not cover rainwater tanks or private supplies, so where your water does not come from CWSA, or after heavy rain or 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 7.9% of what St Vincent and the Grenadines 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 is a recurring problem in St Vincent and the Grenadines. In April 2025 the Chief Fisheries Officer said that year's influx was the largest seen at that time of year since 2011, with large amounts trapped at the Owia fisheries centre and, for the first time officials could recall, in Kingstown. Fishers lose trips when weed fouls propellers and damages engines, and hotels on the beaches have reported landings. The ministry warned farmers not to use the weed as fertiliser or mulch after tests found evidence of heavy metals, said it would work with the Hotel Association on beach clean up, and said a UNDP project would supply tractors and barrier booms.
When is the best time to visit St Vincent and the Grenadines? Tap your month.
Tap your month.
How much fresh water does Saint Vincent and the Grenadines actually have?
Nature renews about 980 cubic metres of fresh water per person per year here. That ranks St Vincent and the Grenadines 56 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 below that line. World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT.
FAO AQUASTAT · WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme · World Bank Open Data · Ocean Health Index, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines region page · Ocean Health Index, Global scores · Central Water and Sewerage Authority, Frequently asked questions · Central Water and Sewerage Authority, Engineering (laboratory services) · OpenStreetMap, Overpass API query: natural=beach with a name in St Vincent and the Grenadines (28 October 2026) · Searchlight, Sargassum invasion in SVG: the worst since 2011 (25 April 2025)
Food and Drink in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Food made up about 26% of the country's merchandise imports in 2023. St Vincent was the world's leading producer of arrowroot starch until around 1965, when cheaper substitutes and more lucrative bananas led to its decline.
Where does the food in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines come from?
26.0% imported
about US$132m a year
On the plate: Arrowroot, breadfruit, bananas, dasheen, plantains, callaloo, national dish is roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish.
3 of 10
bites are imported
The island buys in more food energy than it eats. About US$132m a year leaves the country to pay for it. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
About 26% of everything St Vincent and the Grenadines buys in from abroad is food, roughly 3 in every 10 imported items on the dock (2023, World Bank). Farming itself is 3.4% of the economy and 17.9% of the land is agricultural, of which 5.1% is arable. The green slice is roughly what still grows here.
What is killing people in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines? The imported diet.
Cause of death, and the diet behind it.
Non-communicable diseases, all combined74.5%
Diabetes8.6%
The health minister, Jimmy Prince, told Parliament in December 2022 that there were 101 diabetes related amputations in 2015, 63 in 2016, 77 in 2017, 63 in 2018, 67 in 2019 and 52 in 2020, and said the number had been falling on average. Source: iWitness News.
Adults living with overweight or obesity. 61.5%.
Can Saint Vincent and the Grenadines feed itself?
5.1%
Arable land
18.0%
Agricultural land
4,872
Farmers
4,942
Arable acres
3.4%
Agriculture, share of GDP
Harvest: Bananas (largest crop by tonnage)
Feeding itself
Dasheen is the flagship crop and has been formally declared the Blue Gold crop of St Vincent and the Grenadines, exported to the UK and France. Breadfruit is the other pillar, and the lineage is real: the Botanic Gardens in Kingstown were founded in 1765 and still hold a sucker descended from the breadfruit Captain Bligh landed in 1793.
Certification
The honest position is that we could not verify organic certification for any Vincentian producer, so this sits at two on the strength of growing method rather than paperwork. What is genuinely low input is sea moss, line farmed in the sea with no fresh water, no land, no feed and no chemicals, which on islands with no rivers is close to an ideal crop.
Water for crops
The mainland and the Grenadines are hydrologically opposite, and you should plan for both. St Vincent is volcanic and river fed: the Central Water and Sewerage Authority runs 12 catchments and pipes water to roughly 98 per cent of the island.
Why the organic number looks like that. Certified-organic farmland is not separately reported for St Vincent and the Grenadines, and that is a certification gap rather than proof nothing is grown cleanly. What the official land record does show: 17.9% of the country is agricultural land and 5.1% 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
BananasRoot vegetablesPlantainsSpicesCoconutsFruitsApplesVegetablesMangoes/guavasSweet potatoes
The food that already fits
The plant-based kitchen here is not an import. By tonnage, the largest crops grown in St Vincent and the Grenadines are bananas, starchy roots and tubers, plantains and cooking bananas, and coconuts (FAO, FAOSTAT crop production, 2024). That is what the land itself puts on a plate.
Buy direct where residents buy: spring organic farm st vincent, C.S.L Apiaries (S.V.G), Belvedere Farms, Lampkin's Natural Farm, Square foot farm svg, Westfield Farms Svg. 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: Kings and Queens to Kings and Queens is a restaurant in St Vincent and the Grenadines. See its verified sustainability rating and; Bush Bar SVG to Bush Bar SVG is a 100% plant based restaurant in Vermont Valley, St Vincent and the Grenadines. See its verifi. Every kitchen listed here is checked for how plant-based the menu really is before it earns its place.
Is this grown in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
Tap a food for the honest answer.
BananasDasheenPlantainsCallalooNational dish is roasted breadfruitFried jackfish
World Bank Open Data · FAO, FAOSTAT crop production · World Health Organization · FAO AQUASTAT · iWitness News, Diabetes related amputations still a major concern in SVG: Health Minister (30 December 2022) · World Bank, Food imports (% of merchandise imports), St Vincent and the Grenadines · FAO AGRIS, Rapport d'expertise des usines d'extraction d'amidon d'arrow-root à St Vincent (CIRAD, 1996)
Climate and Energy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a very low per-capita emitter at roughly 1.3 tonnes of CO2 per person (World Bank, 2024), and it already draws about a fifth of its electricity from renewables, chiefly long-established hydropower on the main island with a small solar contribution. The remainder of the grid runs on imported diesel. The country sits on an active volcanic arc and has pursued a 10 MW geothermal project intended to displace a large share of fossil generation, though development has faced delays, including the 2021 La Soufrière eruption. The combination of genuinely low emissions and a real, if modest, renewable base places it in the middle band, held back by continued diesel reliance.
What powers Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
Renewable 13.3%Fossil 86.7%
St Vincent Electricity Services Ltd (VINLEC) is fully owned by the government. The government bought 49 per cent of the company in the early 1970s and the remaining 51 per cent from the Commonwealth Development Corporation on 1 July 1985. The Electricity Supply Act of 1973 set the framework for its operations. It generates, transmits and distributes power on St Vincent, Bequia, Union Island, Canouan and Mayreau, serving just over 46,000 customers (March 2020) through about 350 miles of lines. Diesel plants at Cane Hall and Lowmans Bay supply most power on the main island. Three hydro plants produce about 18 to 20 per cent of electricity a year and solar about 2 per cent.
Climate pollution per person
The safe amount, what the planet can absorb
2 tonnes
One person here
1.31 tonnes
The world average, for comparison
4.7 tonnes
The worst it ever got
1.31 tonnes
The grid
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a very low per-capita emitter at roughly 1.31 tonnes of CO2 per person, and it already draws about a fifth of its electricity from renewables, chiefly long-established hydropower on the main island with a small solar contribution. The remainder of the grid runs on imported diesel.
Pollution
The law here is real and dated. Styrofoam was banned from 1 May 2017.
Water stress
The mainland and the Grenadines are hydrologically opposite, and you should plan for both. St Vincent is volcanic and river fed: the Central Water and Sewerage Authority runs 12 catchments and pipes water to roughly 98 per cent of the island.
What pollutes most here
1The grid The share of electricity still generated from fossil fuel.85%
2Air Modelled annual mean against a WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.10.6 µg/m³ (PM2.5)
3On the record The law here is real and dated.
What has Saint Vincent and the Grenadines promised on climate?
Electricity renewable today15% (2021)
Land protected, against a 30% target22.6% by 2025
Sea protected, against a 30% target0.2% by 2025
Measured on delivery, 15% of electricity is already renewable (2021, World Bank), so 85% 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 year1.31 t CO2e
Safe-climate budget, per year2 t CO2e
Singapore return, economy3.19 t CO2e
Sydney return, economy2.89 t CO2e
Dubai return, economy2.15 t CO2e
Johannesburg return, economy1.91 t CO2e
Frankfurt return, economy1.34 t CO2e
How much CO2 does flying to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines emit?
Tap where you would fly from. One return flight, economy.
Firsts on climate finance. St Vincent and the Grenadines insures against storms and heavy rain through CCRIF, the regional disaster insurer. CCRIF's payout record shows US$1.09 million after Tropical Cyclone Tomas in October 2010, US$285,349 under its excess rainfall policy after Tropical Cyclone Matthew in 2016, US$247,257 for excess rainfall in September 2017, and US$1.86 million after Hurricane Beryl in July 2024. Smaller sums came from CCRIF's aggregated deductible cover, US$17,613 after Dorian in 2019 and US$48,988 after Elsa in 2021.
AI and Data Centres in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
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 Vincent and the Grenadines.
Data centres
0
Registered colocation and interconnection facilities, PeeringDB, 2026
Grid renewable
13.3 %
What a machine here runs on.
What powers a data centre in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
Almost everything a machine here consumes is burned fossil fuel.
Renewable 13.3%Fossil 86.7%
Cooling water. Every one of those halls runs on the national grid, which is 15% 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. St Vincent and the Grenadines has 0 colocation and interconnection facilities on the public PeeringDB register, alongside 1 internet exchange (SVGIX).
Where the cables land. 7 landing points · Bequia, Canouan, Chateaubelair, Kingstown
Economy and Tourism in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
20% residents to 80% visitors across a year. 392,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 99,924 people who live here (2025, World Bank / UN Tourism).
Where a visitor dollar goes in St Vincent and the Grenadines
392k
Visitors a year
3.9
Visitors per resident
How deep in debt is Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?· for every $100 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines earns in a year, it owes…
Pay to the order of: the creditorsmemo · today
$ 120What 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
$ 145The IMF's own forecast has this rising to $145 by 2031.
IMF World Economic Outlook projection, 2031signed, the forecast
For every $100 St Vincent and the Grenadines earns in a year, it owes $120 (2026, IMF World Economic Outlook). That is more than a full year of national income, and the interest is paid before anything else.
Where does a tourist dollar actually go in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
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. 392,000 international arrivals in 2019 against 99,924 residents, 3.9 visitors for every resident (World Bank / UN Tourism).
$100 in play2
The bed
Who owns the largest places to stay in St Vincent and the Grenadines 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 26% of everything St Vincent and the Grenadines imports (2023, World Bank), so a large part of every restaurant bill is paid to a supplier abroad. Eating what the land here actually grows, bananas, root vegetables, plantains, spices, coconuts, fruits, apples, vegetables, mangoes/guavas, sweet potatoes, keeps that money with the grower.
sails in4
The power
85% 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 Vincent and the Grenadines. Choosing locally grown food is the part of that a visitor can actually control.
less than you think6
Pay the bank first
St Vincent and the Grenadines owes $120 for every $100 it earns (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2026 projection). The interest is paid before anything else on this board.
$120 per $1007
Community chest
Tourism earns 46% of everything St Vincent and the Grenadines makes from exports (2020, World Bank / UN Tourism). That is how much of the economy depends on the game continuing.
46% of exports8
The flight
Getting here is usually the biggest single line on the bill. From Singapore a return economy seat is 3.19 t CO2, on the UK Government's published conversion factors. It is the one part of the trip this board cannot reduce.
3.19 t CO29
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$1.3bn
Agriculture, share of GDP3.4%
Visitors a year392,000
Visitors per resident3.9
Residents~99,924
Agriculture
Farming is 3.4% of the economy. Dasheen is the flagship crop and has been formally declared the Blue Gold crop of St Vincent and the Grenadines, exported to the UK and France.
Natural materials
St Vincent has the closest thing in the Caribbean to Jamaica's calabash: a plant with a job, grown for the land, worked by named people, sold in a shop you can walk into. Vetiver, khus khus, was traditionally the roof thatch here.
Energy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a very low per-capita emitter at roughly 1.31 tonnes of CO2 per person, and it already draws about a fifth of its electricity from renewables, chiefly long-established hydropower on the main island with a small solar contribution. The remainder of the grid runs on imported diesel.
Who owns the biggest hotels in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
By rooms · company records and press.
Bekonos · ~2 roomsIndependentnot published
Frangipani HotelOwnership not publishednot published
Flomarine · ~5 roomsPrivate villa rentalnot published
Spring View Organic Farm Stay · ~1 roomsPrivatenot published
Visitors, over time
2014205k
2015207k
2016227k
2017303k
2018356k
2019392k
International tourism receipts run at about US$0.09 billion in 2020 (World Bank / UN Tourism). That is 46% of everything the country earns from exports.
How much of your money actually stays here?
Tap the holiday you are planning.
Visiting Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 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 arrowroot, breadfruit, bananas, dasheen, plantains, callaloo; national dish is roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish. 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. Eco tours
3. Stay somewhere locally owned Ownership decides where the room rate books. Eco stays
4. Use the transport residents use Ferry between the islands, minibus on St Vincent
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 Vincent and the Grenadines is a chain of 32 islands and cays where tourism still runs at a human scale. St Vincent itself is wild and green, ridged by the La Soufriere volcano and edged with black sand beaches.
Best time: December to May is the dry season and the best time to sail the Grenadines. The Bequia Easter Regatta is worth timing for if you love boats. Hurricane season runs June to November, wettest in September and October. The islands are quietest, and cheapest, in the shoulder months of May and June.
Getting around
Ferry between the islands, minibus on St Vincent
Transport is where the fare either stays or leaves.
Eating here
The everyday plate that actually grows here is bananas, root vegetables, plantains, spices, coconuts, fruits, apples, vegetables, mangoes/guavas and sweet potatoes. 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
Water is the thing to get right. On the mainland it is piped and normal. In the Grenadines it is finite, so keep showers short and reuse the towels, and your host will thank you.
Carry cash. Small guesthouses, boat operators and market sellers often take nothing else, and the Owia Salt Pond charges US$5 on the gate. The Bequia ferry is around 25 EC each way.
Do not take shells, coral or sand off the beach, and if anyone offers to show you a Union Island gecko, decline. Collection for the pet trade is the reason it nearly went extinct.
Rate my hotel. Tap yours for the honest verdict.
Ownership from company records and press.
Who owns the big hotels
BekonosIndependent · 2 rooms
Frangipani HotelOwnership not published
FlomarinePrivate villa rental · 5 rooms
Spring View Organic Farm StayPrivate · 1 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 Vincent and the Grenadines.
How well is St Vincent and the Grenadines actually run?
Governance, measured · World Bank WGI
Four measured answers, none of them opinion. Averaged across corruption control, delivery and accountability, St Vincent and the Grenadines scores 61 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 Vincent and the Grenadines really like? Measured
Getting around, breathing, throwing away, learning. The honest checklist.
TransportAirWaterWastePower
✓How you get around Ferry between the islands, minibus on St Vincent
95.6%
literacy. Public spending on education runs at 6.5% of GDP and 12.6% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment stands at 124.9% gross (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2023 to 2024).
Made in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
St Vincent has the closest thing in the Caribbean to Jamaica's calabash: a plant with a job, grown for the land, worked by named people, sold in a shop you can walk into. Vetiver, khus khus, was traditionally the roof thatch here. Every step of processing done at home is value that stops leaving the country.
What Saint Vincent and the Grenadines actually sells the world
UN Comtrade data on the World Bank's WITS site show St Vincent and the Grenadines exported US$41 million of goods in 2023, while it imported US$456 million, about 11 times as much. The biggest export was wheat flour at US$10.9 million, followed by animal feed at US$6.8 million, then other seafood, pile drivers and beer, each around US$1.4 million to US$1.7 million. Most exports go to neighbouring islands: Barbados took 20.8 per cent, Saint Lucia 15.1 per cent, St Kitts and Nevis 13.3 per cent and Dominica 11.7 per cent, with the United States at 11.3 per cent. Fuel was the largest import, at US$41.2 million.
Made now · natural materials
Grown for the land
Worked in St Vincent and the Grenadines from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Khus khus
Worked in St Vincent and the Grenadines from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
Run by the NGO Hand2Earth with designer Vonnie Roudette. Sandals Foundation put US$10
Worked in St Vincent and the Grenadines from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Made now · natural materials
000 into the Vetiver Craft Project in May 2024
Worked in St Vincent and the Grenadines from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Could make · grown here already
Arrowroot (world's largest producer)
Grown in St Vincent and the Grenadines and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
Breadfruit (25+ varieties)
Grown in St Vincent and the Grenadines and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
Bananas
Grown in St Vincent and the Grenadines and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
The maths for an entrepreneur. St Vincent and the Grenadines produces about US$1 billion a year, which is roughly US$12,562 per person (2025, World Bank). Farming is 3.4% of that, while food is 26% 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 5.1% of the land arable, the raw material for that is already in the ground.
See the verified makersCulture in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Each May at the Maroon Festival, and at weddings
Big drum
On Union Island the Big Drum, also called the Nation Dance, is danced at the Maroon Festival and at weddings. It has six dances and its roots lie in African heritage.
Quadrille dancing
Quadrille dancing featured in the 2025 national programme to safeguard intangible heritage, with a Quadrille and Moonlight Games event in Kingstown, and the Sandy Bay Heritage Development Foundation is working to revive it.
21 May, Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day
Spiritual Baptist (Shaker) faith
Once known as the Shakers, the Spiritual Baptist faith was outlawed by a colonial ordinance in 1912 that was not repealed until 1965. Since 2025 its liberation day has been a national holiday.
Believed to date from about 1913The nine mornings before Christmas, in DecemberNine Mornings festivalOn the nine mornings before Christmas, Vincentians rise around 4 a.m. for concerts, cultural performances and games. It is thought to have grown from early-morning Catholic services, and in rural areas the last morning ends with a steel band jump-up.
Does Saint Vincent and the Grenadines protect its heritage by law?
Partly, and the gaps say as much as the protections.
What is kept alive. Saint Vincent, known ancestrally as Hairouna, is the homeland of the Garifuna (Black Carib) people and still holds surviving Kalinago communities in the north at Sandy Bay, Owia and Fancy, keeping indigenous ancestry alive. The Spiritual Baptist faith, locally the Shakers, is a living African-Christian ancestral tradition that was banned from 1912 until 1965 and is now openly and proudly practised. The unique Nine Mornings festival fills the pre-dawn streets before Christmas with music and dance, while big drum, quadrille, bele, string band, calypso and soca carry the island's rhythms.
Who it belongs to. This is the Garifuna homeland, and the history is precise rather than decorative. St Vincent is Yurumein in the Garifuna language. Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer was killed by British troops in 1795 and was declared the country's first National Hero on 14 March 2002, now National Heroes Day.
Only here. The Botanic Gardens in Kingstown were founded in 1765 and are among the oldest botanic gardens in the Western Hemisphere, still holding a breadfruit descended from the one Bligh landed in 1793. Union Island is the only place on earth where the Union Island gecko lives..
St Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority, Union Island history and culture · St Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority, Nine Mornings Festival · iWitness News, SVG's unique tradition turns 100 years (2013) · St Vincent Times, SVG's intangible cultural heritage launch (2025) · iWitness News, Caribbean Ties Exhibition and Documentation Centre opens in Sandy Bay (2024) · iWitness News, SVG declares annual Spiritual Baptist public holiday (2024) · iWitness News, Free at last, Spiritual Baptist archbishop shouts (2025)
The Future of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Three futures for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, every one run forward from measured data.
Where the making actually happens
Named cultural and craft sites on the open map: Bequia Heritage Museum (Port Elizabeth), Botanical Gardens (Saint George). 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 73.2% to 73.4% across 29 recorded years.
How clean is the grid?
Renewable electricity moved from 25.9% to 15% across 21 recorded years.
How much climate pollution per person?
CO2 per person moved from 0.49 t to 1.31 t across 29 recorded years.
How many people visit?
Tourist arrivals moved from 218k to 392k across 24 recorded years.
How much land is protected?
Protected land moved from 10.9% to 22.6% across 12 recorded years.
How many people still farm?
Farm workforce moved from 20.9% to 9.07% across 30 recorded years.
How much sea is protected?
Protected sea moved from 0.1% to 0.2% across 12 recorded years.
How much land is farmed?
Agricultural land moved from 23% to 18% across 29 recorded years.
How fast is it urbanising?
Urban population moved from 44.3% to 48% across 30 recorded years.
Is the air getting cleaner?
Air pollution moved from 12.2 µg/m³ to 10.6 µg/m³ across 28 recorded years.
Is water getting scarcer?
Fresh water per person moved from 885 m³ to 980 m³ across 27 recorded years.
Is diet-related disease rising?
Adult overweight moved from 41.3% to 61.5% across 27 recorded years.
Who has power?
Electricity access moved from 73.2% to 100% across 29 recorded years.
Is income rising?
GDP per person moved from 2,795 to 12,562 across 30 recorded years.
How fast is it growing?
Population moved from 113k to 99.9k across 30 recorded years.
What share of all energy is renewable?
Renewable energy use moved from 9.1% to 5.1% across 27 recorded years.
How much land and sea is protected together?
Protected area, total moved from 0.2% to 0.5% across 12 recorded years.
How long do people live?
Life expectancy moved from 70.6 yrs to 71.4 yrs across 29 recorded years.
How much does a hectare of cereal produce?
Cereal yield moved from 3,758 kg/ha to 13,344 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How much fertiliser goes on the land?
Fertiliser use moved from 1,186 kg/ha to 203 kg/ha across 29 recorded years.
How many people still live rurally?
Rural population moved from 55.7% to 52% across 30 recorded years.
How much value per cubic metre of water?
Water productivity moved from 50.5 $/m3 to 110 $/m3 across 27 recorded years.
How much goes on health?
Health spending moved from 3.98% to 4.44% across 23 recorded years.
How much forest is there in total?
Forest area moved from 285 km2 to 286 km2 across 30 recorded years.
How have agriculture emissions moved?
Agriculture emissions moved from 0.02 to 0.01 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have building emissions moved?
Building emissions moved from 0.01 to 0.02 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have electricity/heat emissions moved?
Electricity/Heat emissions moved from 0.03 to 0.1 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have energy emissions moved?
Energy emissions moved from 0.08 to 0.26 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have transportation emissions moved?
Transportation emissions moved from 0.05 to 0.14 MtCO2e across 33 recorded years.
Climate Watch (WRI), historical emissions
How have waste emissions moved?
Waste emissions moved from 0.06 to 0.01 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 Vincent and the Grenadines's record. Dasheen is the flagship crop and has been formally declared the Blue Gold crop of St Vincent and the Grenadines, exported to the UK and France.
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 Vincent and the Grenadines's record. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a very low per-capita emitter at roughly 1.3 tonnes of CO2 per person (World Bank, 2024), and it already draws about a fifth of its electricity from renewables, chiefly long-established hydropower on the main island with a s…
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 St Vincent and the Grenadines's record. The honest position is that we could not verify organic certification for any Vincentian producer, so this sits at two on the strength of growing method rather than paperwork.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Government and Goals in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Who is in charge of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 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.
Godwin Friday
Prime Minister
Godwin Friday is the head of government of St Vincent and the Grenadines, in office since 28 November 2025. 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 69.0 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Down from 69.2 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Control of corruption scores 62.6 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 62.3 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Political stability and absence of violence scores 87.0 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 68.2 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 67.1 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Regulatory quality scores 57.6 out of 100 in 2025. On this World Bank scale, 100 is the strongest governance measured. Up from 57.5 in 2024. World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025 data (updated 25 September 2026)
Godwin FridayPrime Minister
House of AssemblyLegislature, unicameral
Last election27 November 2025
Constitution1979
Government typeparliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 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
! closeTarget 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted by more than 190 parties in December 2022. St Vincent and the Grenadines currently protects 22.6% of its land, which is 75% of the way to the pledge. Source
2030
30% of sea protected
✕ far behindThe marine half of the same 30x30 pledge. St Vincent and the Grenadines currently protects 0.2% of its territorial waters, which is 1% of the way there. Source
2030
Paris Agreement pledge
on recordSt Vincent and the Grenadines 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 2017; plastic bags and food containers phased 2020 to 2021.
Grid, as it stands
15% renewableRecorded renewable share of electricity output, the number every energy pledge is measured against. Source
Plain Answers About Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The questions people actually type, answered in full sentences from the sourced data above.
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Is St Vincent and the Grenadines sustainable?
St Vincent and the Grenadines scores 70 out of 100 on the Throne Eco Index, across twelve equally weighted pillars. St Vincent and the Grenadines is a chain of 32 islands and cays where tourism still runs at a human scale. St Vincent itself is wild and green, ridged by the La Soufriere volcano and edged with black sand beaches. The Grenadines strung south from it, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau and the Tobago Cays, are some of the quietest and cleanest sailing islands in the Caribbean.
Is the water in St Vincent and the Grenadines safe and plentiful?
The mainland and the Grenadines are hydrologically opposite, and you should plan for both. St Vincent is volcanic and river fed: the Central Water and Sewerage Authority runs 12 catchments and pipes water to roughly 98 per cent of the island. The Grenadines have no public water system at all.
Can St Vincent and the Grenadines feed itself?
Dasheen is the flagship crop and has been formally declared the Blue Gold crop of St Vincent and the Grenadines, exported to the UK and France. Breadfruit is the other pillar, and the lineage is real: the Botanic Gardens in Kingstown were founded in 1765 and still hold a sucker descended from the breadfruit Captain Bligh landed in 1793. The honest gap is that no St Vincent specific food import figure could be verified.
Is it easy to eat plant-based in St Vincent and the Grenadines?
Kingstown Market at Market Square is the main produce market and is busiest on Friday and Saturday, with the fish market and the Grenadines ferry terminal in the Little Tokyo waterfront district beside it. Port Elizabeth on Bequia has its own vegetable market. The everyday food here is already largely plant based: callaloo soup made from dasheen leaves and coconut milk is a national dish, and breadfruit is a staple rather than a novelty.
How much of St Vincent and the Grenadines is actually protected?
55 protected areas are recorded for the country. Tobago Cays Marine Park, established in 1998, covers roughly 50 square kilometres of sand bottomed lagoon around five uninhabited cays, enclosed by the 4km Horseshoe Reef, and takes in turtle nesting and feeding grounds and small mangrove systems. The standout is Ashton Lagoon on Union Island, and it deserves to be better known.
What wildlife is left in St Vincent and the Grenadines?
Two species live here and nowhere else. The St Vincent parrot is endemic to the mainland's forested mountains and is listed Vulnerable. The Union Island gecko is Critically Endangered, was only described to science in 2005, and by 2011 was being taken for the illegal pet trade.
Is St Vincent and the Grenadines on clean energy?
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a very low per-capita emitter at roughly 1.31 tonnes of CO2 per person, and it already draws about a fifth of its electricity from renewables, chiefly long-established hydropower on the main island with a small solar contribution. The remainder of the grid runs on imported diesel. The country sits on an active volcanic arc and has pursued a 10 MW geothermal project intended to displace a large share of fossil generation, though development has faced delays, including the 2021 La Soufrière eruption.
How polluted is St Vincent and the Grenadines?
The law here is real and dated. Styrofoam was banned from 1 May 2017. The Environmental Health (Control of Disposable Plastics) Regulations 2019 then staged out disposable plastic: no import of plastic shopping bags from 1 March 2020 and food service containers from 1 August 2020, and no distribution, sale or use of bags from 1 August 2020 and containers from 1 January 2021.
Does recycling work in St Vincent and the Grenadines?
Better than most of its neighbours, and recently invested in. Diamond Landfill was completed in September 2021 with a twenty year design life. A metal baler has been installed there to bale scrap metal for export, and a twice yearly White Goods Collection Programme has removed more than 30,000 large household items since 2011.
Is the farming in St Vincent and the Grenadines organic?
The honest position is that we could not verify organic certification for any Vincentian producer, so this sits at two on the strength of growing method rather than paperwork. What is genuinely low input is sea moss, line farmed in the sea with no fresh water, no land, no feed and no chemicals, which on islands with no rivers is close to an ideal crop. The SeaMoss Association is a community based organisation founded in 2023 supporting over 10 women entrepreneurs across three islands, with 60 plus farmers across four.
Are there natural materials and craft in St Vincent and the Grenadines?
St Vincent has the closest thing in the Caribbean to Jamaica's calabash: a plant with a job, grown for the land, worked by named people, sold in a shop you can walk into. Vetiver, khus khus, was traditionally the roof thatch here. It is now the basis of the country's main craft programme, run by the NGO Hand2Earth with designer Vonnie Roudette.
Is there living culture in St Vincent and the Grenadines?
This is the Garifuna homeland, and the history is precise rather than decorative. St Vincent is Yurumein in the Garifuna language. Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer was killed by British troops in 1795 and was declared the country's first National Hero on 14 March 2002, now National Heroes Day.
What heritage does St Vincent and the Grenadines keep alive?
Saint Vincent, known ancestrally as Hairouna, is the homeland of the Garifuna (Black Carib) people and still holds surviving Kalinago communities in the north at Sandy Bay, Owia and Fancy, keeping indigenous ancestry alive. The Spiritual Baptist faith, locally the Shakers, is a living African-Christian ancestral tradition that was banned from 1912 until 1965 and is now openly and proudly practised. The unique Nine Mornings festival fills the pre-dawn streets before Christmas with music and dance, while big drum, quadrille, bele, string band, calypso and soca carry the island's rhythms.
So is St Vincent and the Grenadines 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 0.2% against a 30% mark, renewable electricity at 15% against a 100% mark.
World Bank Open Data · Protected Planet (UNEP-WCMC / WDPA) · Climate Watch (WRI) · Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026 · World Bank, World Development Indicators, St Vincent and the Grenadines (population, protected land, renewable electricity, CO2 per capita, NCD deaths) · CIA World Factbook, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (geography and climate), archived data
How Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ranks, region and world.
Where Saint Vincent and the Grenadines sits on the Eco Index, against its Caribbean neighbours and the 77 destinations scored worldwide.
How does Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 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 Vincent and the Grenadines sits 23 of 77 at 70/100. Every name links to its own destination page, built exactly like this one. The full ranking
What is Saint Vincent and the Grenadines particularly good at?
✓ Water, scored 5/5. The mainland and the Grenadines are hydrologically opposite, and you should plan for both. St Vincent is volcanic and river fed: the Central Water and Sewerage Authority runs 12 catchments and pipes water to roughly 98 per cent of the island.
✓ Wildlife, scored 5/5. Two species live here and nowhere else. The St Vincent parrot is endemic to the mainland's forested mountains and is listed Vulnerable. The Union Island gecko is Critically Endangered, was only described to science in 2005, and by 2011 was being taken for the illegal pet trade.
✓ Natural fibres, scored 5/5. St Vincent has the closest thing in the Caribbean to Jamaica's calabash: a plant with a job, grown for the land, worked by named people, sold in a shop you can walk into.
Where does Saint Vincent and the Grenadines score worst?
✕ Food and farming, scored 1/5. Dasheen is the flagship crop and has been formally declared the Blue Gold crop of St Vincent and the Grenadines, exported to the UK and France. Breadfruit is the other pillar, and the lineage is real: the Botanic Gardens in Kingstown were founded in 1765 and still hold a sucker descended from the breadfruit Captain Bligh landed in 1793.
✕ Energy, scored 1/5. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a very low per-capita emitter at roughly 1.3 tonnes of CO2 per person (World Bank, 2024), and it already draws about a fifth of its electricity from renewables, chiefly long-established hydropower on the main island with a small solar contribution. The remainder of the grid runs on imported diesel. The country sits on an active volcanic arc and has pursued a 10 MW geothermal project intended to displace a large share of fossil generation, though development has faced delays, including the 2021 La Soufrière eruption. The combination of genuinely low emissions and a real, if modest, renewable base places it in the middle band, held back by continued diesel reliance.
✕ Organic farming, scored 2/5. The honest position is that we could not verify organic certification for any Vincentian producer, so this sits at two on the strength of growing method rather than paperwork.
A note from the lens of mother natureSwipe
Food and farming, 1/5
Dasheen is the flagship crop and has been formally declared the Blue Gold crop of St Vincent and the Grenadines, exported to the UK and France.
Consequence: It is the lowest-scoring part of St Vincent and the Grenadines's record, so it is where the score moves first.
Energy, 1/5
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a very low per-capita emitter at roughly 1.3 tonnes of CO2 per person (World Bank, 2024), and it already draws about a fifth of its electricity from renewables, chiefly long-established hydropower on the main island with a small solar contribution.
Organic farming, 2/5
The honest position is that we could not verify organic certification for any Vincentian producer, so this sits at two on the strength of growing method rather than paperwork.
The Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Directory.
Everything on Hold The Throne that sits in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, checked and listed.
How the rest of the world scores Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Independent global indices, for calibration.
Forest cover
73.4
World Bank, 2024.
Protected land
22.6
World Bank, 2025.
Protected sea
0.2
World Bank, 2025.
Renewable grid
15.0
World Bank, 2021.
CO2 per person
1.3
World Bank, 2024.
Threatened species
62 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
Control of corruption
62.6 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Government effectiveness
56.9 / 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
87.0 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Voice and accountability
69.0 / 100
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2025. Score from 0 to 100, where 100 is the strongest governance.
Environmental Performance Index
46.1 / 100 · 57 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 57 of 177 countries assessed.
Ecosystem vitality
43.6 / 100 · 86 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 86 of 177 countries assessed.
Biodiversity and habitat
38.5 / 100 · 106 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 106 of 177 countries assessed.
Air quality
49.6 / 100 · 56 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 56 of 177 countries assessed.
Terrestrial biomes protected
58.1 / 100 · 87 of 177
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 87 of 177 countries assessed.
Marine habitat protected
10.7 / 100 · 75 of 111
Yale Environmental Performance Index 2026, ranked 75 of 111 countries assessed.
How Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 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: 101 sources across 49 institutions
World Bank19 FIGURES
- forest cover 73.2%, 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, 2019 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
- Central government debt (% of GDP) GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS, 2009 check
- Population total SP.POP.TOTL, 2025 check
- What a Waste 2.0 country-level dataset check
Other published sources17 FIGURES
- FAOSTAT's last sugar cane production record for the country is 1990; the 2024 order is bananas 59,515 t, starchy roots and tubers 9,121 t, plantains 2,309 t, coconuts 1,994 t check
- No current source for either figure; arrowroot's historic dominance was regional and the industry collapsed, the last traditional factory being destroyed in the April 2021 eruption check
- Banana exports to the UK were suspended in 2011 and had not resumed as of 2018, with farmers exporting regionally instead; no current source for the arrowroot ranking check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Saint Vincent Amazon (Amazona guildingii), assessed 2020, The St Vincent parrot is endemic to the mainland's forested mountains and is listed Vulnerable. check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Union Island Gecko (Gonatodes daudini), assessed 2019, Union Island is the only place on earth where the Union Island gecko lives. check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Union Island Gecko (Gonatodes daudini), assessed 2019 corroboration check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Union Island Gecko (Gonatodes daudini), assessed 2019 corroboration check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines in GBIF occurrence d check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) corroboration check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) corroboration check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Union Island Gecko (Gonatodes daudini), assessed 2019 corroboration check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Union Island Gecko (Gonatodes daudini), assessed 2019 corroboration check
- Convention on Biological Diversity - Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Target 3 corroboration check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata), Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and recorded in St Vincent and the Grenadines in GBIF occurrence d check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) corroboration check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) corroboration check
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) corroboration check
The National Archives (UK)7 FIGURES
- CO 321/322/5 - 'St Vincent. Shakerism Prohibition Ordinance, 1912: Sends a report on convictions under the Shakerism Prohibition...', 28 March 1922, The Spiritual Baptist faith, locally the Shakers, is a living African-Christian ancestral tradition that was b check
- CO 321/322/5 - 'St Vincent. Shakerism Prohibition Ordinance, 1912: Sends a report on convictions under the Shakerism Prohibition...', 28 March 1922 corroboration check
- CO 321/322/5 - 'St Vincent. Shakerism Prohibition Ordinance, 1912: Sends a report on convictions under the Shakerism Prohibition...', 28 March 1922 corroboration check
- CO 321/322/5 - 'St Vincent. Shakerism Prohibition Ordinance, 1912: Sends a report on convictions under the Shakerism Prohibition...', 28 March 1922 corroboration check
- CO 321/322/5 - 'St Vincent. Shakerism Prohibition Ordinance, 1912: Sends a report on convictions under the Shakerism Prohibition...', 28 March 1922 corroboration check
- CO 321/322/5 - 'St Vincent. Shakerism Prohibition Ordinance, 1912: Sends a report on convictions under the Shakerism Prohibition...', 28 March 1922 corroboration check
- CO 321/322/5 - 'St Vincent. Shakerism Prohibition Ordinance, 1912: Sends a report on convictions under the Shakerism Prohibition...', 28 March 1922 corroboration check
UNESCO Institute for Statistics4 FIGURES
- public data API, indicator XGDP.FSGOV (Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP), St Vincent and the Grenadines, Public spending on education runs at 6.5% of GDP and 12.6% of all government spending, and secondary enrolment check
- public data API, indicator XGDP.FSGOV (Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP), St Vincent and the Grenadines corroboration check
- public data API, indicator XGDP.FSGOV (Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP), St Vincent and the Grenadines corroboration check
- public data API, indicator XGDP.FSGOV (Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP), St Vincent and the Grenadines corroboration check
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area (% of land area) AG_LND_FRST, St Vincent and the Grenadines, 2025 (73.2%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area under a long-term management plan (%) AG_LND_FRSTMGT, St Vincent and the Grenadines, 2025 (0%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area inside legally established protected areas (%) AG_LND_FRSTPRCT, St Vincent and the Grenadines, 2025 (15.7%), country-reported check
Searchlight3 FIGURES
BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC2 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_PTD_TERR, St Vincent and the Grenadines, 2025 (45.6%), country-reported check
- UN SDG Global Database, marine Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas (%) ER_MRN_MPA, St Vincent and the Grenadines, 2025 (26.3%), country-reported check
BirdsCaribbean2 FIGURES
IUCN2 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 St Vincent and check
- 'IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1', second edition, Section IV, The Categories corroboration check
iWitness News2 FIGURES
Tobago Cays Marine Park (statutory marine park2 FIGURES
Afar1 FIGURE
- St Vincent Craftsmen's Centre check
Among the oldest; Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia1 FIGURE
- founded 1728, is a surviving Western Hemisphere botanic garden that predates it check
BirdLife International1 FIGURE
- Saint Vincent amazon check
Both specifics dropped1 FIGURE
- no current source; BGCI's record of the St Vincent gardens notes only two main breadfruit varieties in use check
Caribbean Beat1 FIGURE
- Breadfruit, Bligh and botanic gardens check
CBD1 FIGURE
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3 check
Constitute Project1 FIGURE
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1979 check
Fauna and Flora1 FIGURE
- Union Island gecko check
FEE Blue Flag programme1 FIGURE
- St Vincent and the Grenadines is not a participating country, 2025
Frontiers in Energy Research1 FIGURE
- geothermal energy potential across Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 2021 check
Govt of SVG and Caribbean Agri-Business1 FIGURE
- local staples
IFES ElectionGuide1 FIGURE
- St Vincent and the Grenadines elections and chambers check
IRENA1 FIGURE
- Energy Profile: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (renewables 18% of generation, hydro 14%) check
Ministry of Agriculture1 FIGURE
- Forestry, Fisheries and Rural Transformation, Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines - Restoration Activities at Ashton Lagoon Begins corroboration check
Mongabay1 FIGURE
- Union Island gecko recovery check
OECS1 FIGURE
- dasheen declared the Blue Gold crop check
Protected Planet1 FIGURE
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines check
St Vincent Times1 FIGURE
- Bequia unveils groundbreaking seamoss centre check
Superyacht Services Guide1 FIGURE
- market days
Sustainable Grenadines Inc (SusGren)1 FIGURE
- Ashton Lagoon restoration, Union Island
SVG Ministry of Tourism1 FIGURE
- natural phenomena
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 Vincent and the Grenadines, 2024 (4.9%), modelled estimate check
UNESCO1 FIGURE
- Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists check
UNFCCC1 FIGURE
- NDC Registry check
Union Island Environmental Alliance1 FIGURE
- Canouan water storage check
Vulnerable on the current Red List1 FIGURE
- as the same page states elsewhere check
West India Committee1 FIGURE
- The exile of the Garinagu check
WHO/UNICEF JMP1 FIGURE
- World Bank, drinking water 97.7% (at least basic), 2018
World Bank EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS1 FIGURE
- renewable electricity 15.0%, 2021
Yachting Magazine1 FIGURE
- Bequia model boats check