Country Fast Facts: St. Kitts & Nevis

The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis (also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis), located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies.

It is the smallest nation in the Americas in both area and population.

First settled by the British in 1623, the islands became an associated state with full internal autonomy in 1967.

The island of Anguilla rebelled and was allowed to secede in 1971.

Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983.

In 1998, a vote in Nevis on a referendum to separate from Saint Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority needed.

Nevis continues in its efforts to try and separate from Saint Kitts.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population:
39,349 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure:
0-14 years: 27.2% (male 5,472/female 5,218)
15-64 years: 64.9% (male 12,779/female 12,752)
65 years and over: 7.9% (male 1,300/female 1,828) (2007 est.)

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Median age:
total: 28.1 years
male: 27.4 years
female: 28.8 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate:
0.623% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate:
17.89 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate:
8.16 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate:
-3.51 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.049 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.002 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.711 male(s)/female
total population: 0.988 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate:
total: 13.74 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 15.44 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 11.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.66 years
male: 69.81 years
female: 75.69 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate:
2.29 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA

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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA

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Nationality:
noun: Kittitian(s), Nevisian(s)
adjective: Kittitian, Nevisian

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Ethnic groups:
predominantly black; some British, Portuguese, and Lebanese

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Religions:
Anglican, other Protestant, Roman Catholic

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Languages:
English

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Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 97.8%
male: NA%
female: NA% (2003 est.)

Sugar was the traditional mainstay of the Saint Kitts economy until the 1970s. The government closed the sugar industry following the 2005 harvest after decades of losses at the state-run sugar company. To compensate, the government has embarked on a program to diversify the agricultural sector and to stimulate other sectors of the economy. Activities such as tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking have assumed larger roles in the economy. Tourism revenues are now the chief source of the islands' foreign exchange; about 341,800 tourists visited Nevis in 2005. Additional tourist facilities, including a second cruise ship pier, hotels, and golf courses are under construction.

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GDP (purchasing power parity):
$726 million (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate):
$453 million (2005)

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GDP - real growth rate:
4.9% (2005 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP):
$8,200 (2005 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 25.8%
services: 70.7% (2001)

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Labor force:
18,170 (June 1995)

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Unemployment rate:
4.5% (1997)

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Population below poverty line:
NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.7% (2005 est.)

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Budget:
revenues: $89.7 million
expenditures: $128.2 million; including capital expenditures of $19.5 million (2003 est.)

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Agriculture - products:
sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish

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Industries:
tourism, cotton, salt, copra, clothing, footwear, beverages

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Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

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Electricity - production:
125 million kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption:
116.3 million kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2004)

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Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - consumption:
800 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl

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Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Exports:
$70 million (2004 est.)

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Exports - commodities:
machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco

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Exports - partners:
US 64.7%, Canada 9.8%, Netherlands 6.9% (2006)

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Imports:
$405 million (2004 est.)

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Imports - commodities:
machinery, manufactures, food, fuels

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Imports - partners:
US 49.7%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.3%, UK 4.5% (2006)

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Debt - external:
$314 million (2004)

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Economic aid - recipient:
$NA

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Currency (code):
East Caribbean dollar (XCD)

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Exchange rates:
East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002)

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Fiscal year:
calendar year