St. Lucia

Country profile: St. Lucia 

St Lucia faces the urgent challenge of having to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on bananas, which account for most of its export earnings.

 Ever since 1964, when it stopped producing sugar cane, St Lucia has been almost completely dependent on the export of bananas to Europe, which gives preferential treatment to producers from former African, Caribbean and Pacific colonies at the expense of Latin American growers, who are mostly US multinationals.

 However, following US pressure and an adverse ruling from the World Trade Organization in 1998, the European Union decided to phase out preferred access to its markets by St Lucian and other Windward Island bananas, thus threatening the survival of these countries' banana industries.

Consequently, St Lucia is having to diversify production, and has begun to promote the growth of tree crops such as mangoes and avocados.

However, its most promising potential lies in tourism. For this, it is particularly suited, with its excellent beaches, mountain scenery, the Qualibou Volcano and its boiling sulfur springs, its orchids and exotic plants, and its tropical flower-lined roadsides.

But first St Lucia must curb escalating drug-related crime and address the problems of unemployment, inflation and high living costs, which underlie much of the country's periodic unrest.

ST LUCIA FACTS

Population: 156,000

Capital: Castries

Major language: English (official), French patois

Major religion: Christianity

Life expectancy: 69 years (men), 76 years (women)

Monetary unit: 1 East Caribbean dollar = 100 cents

Main exports: Bananas (41%), clothing, cocoa, vegetables, fruits, coconut oil

Average annual income: US $4,070

Internet domain: .lc