By NAN Enterprise Editor
Information Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. Aug. 7, 2025: Regardless of a sluggish international outlook, a number of Caribbean economies are forecast to outperform their regional friends in 2025, in keeping with new information from the United Nations Financial Fee for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
ECLAC’s Financial Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2025, launched Tuesday, initiatives a modest 2.2% common GDP progress fee for the Latin America and Caribbean area subsequent 12 months. Nonetheless, a number of Caribbean nations are defying the development, with Guyana, Dominican Republic, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines rising as vibrant spots amid issues over slowing tourism demand and international financial headwinds.
Guyana continues to dominate regional progress projections, with GDP anticipated to surge by 10.3% in 2025, powered by sturdy investments within the nation’s booming hydrocarbons sector. Following a staggering 43.6% enlargement in 2024, Guyana’s momentum positions it because the fastest-growing economic system within the hemisphere.
Following Guyana, the Dominican Republic is predicted to publish a 3.7% progress fee in 2025, pushed by robust home demand, tourism resilience, and structural reforms.
In the meantime, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is forecast to develop by 4.0%, inserting it among the many high 5 Caribbean performers. The island has benefitted from steady tourism restoration and focused public funding.
- Antigua and Barbuda: 3.5%
- Grenada: 3.5%
- Suriname: 3.2%
- Dominica: 2.5%
- Saint Lucia: 2.5%
- Barbados: 2.6%
These progress forecasts distinction sharply with bigger regional economies like Jamaica (1.3%), Bahamas (1.8%), and Trinidad and Tobago (1.5%), that are projected to stay flat amid international uncertainty.
The report warns that the general Caribbean area, excluding Guyana, is predicted to develop simply 1.8% in 2025, a slowdown from 2.6% in 2024. That is largely on account of decrease GDP progress within the U.S. – the area’s largest tourism supply market – together with persistent challenges like excessive power and transport prices, and vulnerability to climate-related disasters.
Haiti and Cuba stay financial laggards. ECLAC initiatives Haiti’s GDP will shrink by -2.3% in 2025, following a -4.2% contraction in 2024, citing ongoing political instability and humanitarian crises. Cuba can be anticipated to contract by –1.5%, reflecting the island’s continued battle with exterior financing, sanctions, and weak home output.
Regardless of the subdued regional outlook, ECLAC highlights that useful resource mobilization and coverage innovation will probably be key to unlocking medium-term progress. Caribbean nations that diversify past tourism, spend money on infrastructure, and harness power transition alternatives usually tend to climate international volatility.
The report – launched at a press convention led by the United Nations regional fee’s Govt Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs – emphasizes that the estimates level to completely different dynamics amongst sub-regions and international locations.
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