The economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis has traditionally depended on the growing and processing of sugar cane; decreasing world prices have hurt the industry in recent years.

Tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking activity have assumed larger roles in Saint Kitts and Nevis.

In late September 1998, Hurricane Georges caused approximately $445 million in damages and limited GDP growth for the year.

The economy of St. Kitts and Nevis experienced strong growth for most of the 1990s but hurricanes in 1998 and 1999 contributed to a sharp slowdown.

Significant new investment in tourism, including a 648-room Marriott hotel and convention center that opened in December 2002, as well as continued government efforts to diversify the economy, are expected to improve economic performance.

The ECCB also manages monetary policy, and regulates and supervises commercial banking activities in its member countries.

There is an extensive parallel economy denominated in US$, which is the de facto currency for many business transactions.

In Nevis, the only large hotel was forced to close for 6 months, resulting in lay-offs of staff (although many were employed to re-landscape devastated gardens) and decreased government revenue.

A unique point of interest is that the island of St. Kitts possesses the only remaining active railway in the West Indies.

St. Kitts is also home to Brimstone Hill Fortress, a UNESCO world heritage site Of the islands' total land area, about 39% is devoted to crops.

Sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cabbages, carrots, and breadfruit are grown for local consumption on both islands, mostly by individual smallholders.

The output of raw sugar slumped between 1986 and 1989, and as a result the government entered into a management agreement with Booke and Tate of Great Britain in August 1991; a World Bank loan of US$1.9 million was utilized to provide financial stability.

Large quantities of dried, salted and smoked fish, as well as frozen are imported from Canada and the United States.

Upgrading the Port Zante harbor complex in Basseterre enables large container ships to call, further enhancing St. Kitts' attractiveness as an offshore manufacturing base.

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3.5% industry: 25.8% services: 70.7%(2001) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.7% (2005 est.)

Industries: sugar processing, tourism, cotton, salt, copra, clothing, footwear, beverages Electricity - production: 125 million kWh (2005) Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1998) Electricity - consumption: 116.3 million kWh (2005) Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2005) Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2005) Agriculture - products: sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish Exports: $42 million (1998) Exports - commodities: machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco Exports - partners: US 61.9%, Canada 9.4%, Netherlands 6.6%, Azerbaijan 5% (2006) Imports: $383 million (2006) Imports - commodities: machinery, manufactures, food, fuels Imports - partners: US 49.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.3%, UK 4.5% (2006) Debt - external: $314 million (2004) Economic aid - recipient: $3.52 million (2005) Currency: 1 East Caribbean dollar (EC$) = 100 cents Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2007), 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003) Fiscal year: calendar year World portal ^These three form the SSS islands that with the ABC islands comprise the Dutch Caribbean, of which *the BES islands are not direct Kingdom constituents but subsumed with the country of the Netherlands.