Economy of Antigua and Barbuda

Some 30% of land on Antigua is under crops or potentially arable, with 18% in use. Sea-island cotton is a profitable export crop. A modest amount of sugar is harvested each year, and there are plans for production of ethanol from sugarcane. Vegetables, including beans, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, plantains, squash, tomatoes, and yams, are grown mostly on small family plots for local markets. Over the past 30 years, agriculture's contribution to the GDP has fallen from over 40% to 12%. The decline in the sugar industry left 60% of the country's 66,000 acres (270 km²) under government control, and the Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging self-sufficiency in certain foods in order to curtail the need to import food, which accounts for about 25% by value of all imports. Crops suffer from droughts and insect pests, and cotton and sugar plantings suffer from soil depletion and the unwillingness of the population to work in the fields. Mango production in 2004 was 1,430 tons.

Livestock estimates in 2004 counted 14,300 head of cattle, 19,000 sheep, and 36,000 goats; there were some 5,700 hogs in the same year. Most livestock is owned by individual households. Milk production in 2004 was an estimated 5,350 tons. The government has sought to increase grazing space and to improve stock, breeding Nelthropp cattle and Black Belly sheep. There is a growing poultry industry. In 1992, the European Development Bank provided $5 million US to the government to help develop the livestock industry.

Most fishing is for local consumption, although there is a growing export of the lobster catch to the United States and of some fish to Guadeloupe and Martinique. Antiguans annually consume more fish per capita (46 kg/101.4 lb) per year live weight than any other nation or territory in the Caribbean. The main fishing waters are near shore or between Antigua and Barbuda. There are shrimp and lobster farms operating, and the Smithsonian Institution has a Caribbean king crab farming facility for the local market. The government has encouraged modern fishing methods and supported mechanization and the building of new boats. Fish landings in 2000 were 1,481 tons; the lobster catch, 42 tons. Exports of fish commodities in 2000 were valued at US$1.5 million.

Few of the islands' mineral resources, which included limestone, building stone, clay, and barite, were exploited until recently. Limestone and volcanic stone have been extracted from Antigua for local construction purposes, and the manufacture of bricks and tiles from local clay has begun on a small scale. Barbuda produced a small amount of salt, while phosphate has been collected from Redonda.

Tourism is the mainstay of the economy of Antigua and Barbuda and is the leading sector in terms of providing employment and creating foreign exchange. In 1999 it contributed 60 percent of GDP and more than half of all jobs. According to the Americas Review 1998, tourism contributed 15 percent directly and around 40 percent indirectly to the GDP in 1998. Real growth in this sector has moved from an average of 7 percent for the period 1985-89 to 8.24 percent for the period 1990-95. There was slow growth between 1995 and 1998.

Figures released by the East Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in 2000 show that total visitor arrivals increased steadily from 470,975 in 1995 to 613,990 in 1998. In 1999 total visitor arrivals declined by about 4.1 percent to 588,866, yet the number of visitors staying at least 1 night or more increased by 1.9 percent over 1998 to total 207,862. Arrivals via cruise ships in 1999 dropped to 325,195, a fall of 3.4 percent over 1998. The fall-off in cruise passengers was mainly the result of one of the larger cruise ships being out of service for a brief period. Most of the tourists in 1999 came from the United Kingdom and the United States. Visitor expenditures have increased steadily since 1990, with total expenditures of EC$782.9 million.

To combat increasing competition from other Caribbean destinations, the government and the Antigua Hotel and Tourist Association have established a joint fund to market the country's appeal as a tourist destination. The association has agreed to match the proceeds from a 2 percent hotel guest levy introduced by the government.

At the start of March 2001, the Antigua Workers Union (AWU), the trade union which represents close to 7,000 workers in the tourism industry, described tourism as an industry in crisis. The AWU claimed the industry is on the decline because some airlines are pulling out of the country, and government was not spending enough money to promote tourism. While the government has conceded that it was not spending enough on marketing because of cash flow problems, it has rejected the AWU's contention that the industry is in crisis.

Most visitors arriving to Antigua and Barbuda as tourists are from the following countries of nationality:[4]

Country	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013
United States	96,347	108,652	94,617	95,332	88,619
United Kingdom	70,701	76,512	77,890	71,193	68,854
Canada	22,932	21,196	23,270	27,701	30,235
Italy	8,527	8,600	7,032	7,976	7,942
Trinidad and Tobago	4,250	3,768	3,331	3,546	3,746
Dominica	4,153	3,988	3,728	2,913	2,954
Jamaica	3,876	3,932	3,857	3,543	3,273
Barbados	2,863	2,878	2,916	2,934	2,920
Saint Kitts and Nevis	2,213	2,651	2,175	2,490	2,741
Germany	2,120	2,165	2,505	2,665	2,443
Total	247,320	265,187	250,450	249,316	243,219

In 2012,[5]

• 81% of visitors to Antigua and Barbuda came for vacation,
• 12% of visitors came to visit friends and family,
• 3% visited for business,
• and 4% visited for other reasons
• 55% of visitors stayed for 4–7 days,
• 28% for 8–14 days,
• 9% for 1–3 days and
• 8% for 15+ days.

In Q4 2019,[6]

• 28.1% of air arrivals came from New York
• 9.0% from Florida
• 8.9% from New Jersey
• 4.6% from California
• 4.6% from Pennsylvania
• 4.2% from Texas
• 3.7% from Connecticut
• 3.5% from Massachusetts
• 2.8% from North Carolina
• and 2.7% from Virginia

In Q4 2019,[6]

• 7,055 air arrivals came from Ontario
• 2,407 from Quebec
• 421 from Alberta
• 406 from British Columbia
• 163 from Nova Scotia
• 75 from Saskatchewan
• 58 from Prince Edward Island
• 50 from Manitoba
• 49 from New Brunswick
• 35 were Not Stated
• 33 from Newfoundland

In Q4 2019,[6]

• 5,351 air arrivals came from Greater London
• 1,882 from Gloucester
• 1,513 from Greater Manchester
• 1,100 from Hampshire & Isle of Wight
• 1,060 from Surrey
• 768 from Kent
• 732 from Essex
• 503 from East Sussex
• 378 from Berkshire
• and 326 from Oxfordshire

[6] Average Daily Expenditure per Person (USD) for Q4 2019

• $356.06 for the United States of America
• $277.70 for the United Kingdom
• $260.91 for Continental Europe
• $251.65 for the Caribbean
• $239.38 for Latin America
• $222.18 for Canada
• $166.67 for Other

Average Length of Stay for Q4 2019

• 14.4 for Other
• 10.5 for Continental Europe
• 10.4 for Latin America
• 10.3 for the United Kingdom
• 9.8 for the Caribbean
• 8.9 for Canada
• 8.5 for the United States of America

Estimated Expenditure

• $96,730,286 for the United States of America
• $68,939,192 for the United Kingdom
• $24,294,241 for the Caribbean
• $21,136,450 for Canada
• $15,738,743 for Continental Europe
• $3,405,668 for Other
• $1,468,836 for Latin America

[6] In Q4 2019,

• 104,691 Cruise Passenger Arrivals were from the United States.
• 61,442 from the UK
• 32,935 from Germany
• 14,669 from Canada
• 7,761 other parts of Europe
• 7,252 from other places
• 5,114 from France
• 2,088 from the Caribbean
• 1,737 from Italy
• 1,451 from South America
• 1,146 from Switzerland

Antigua and Barbuda is advertised as "an attractive offshore jurisdiction." The country was the first to sign the United Nations' anti-money laundering act. This agreement came out of a conference in 1999 which urged worldwide offshore financial centers to introduce laws to tighten their policing of money laundering activities. The United Kingdom exerted considerable pressure on Antigua and Barbuda to reform laws to combat money laundering, even issuing an advisory in April 1999 to British financial institutions that Antigua and Barbuda's anti-money laundering laws were wanting. Antigua and Barbuda responded to this concern, and a subsequent joint United States and United Kingdom review reported they were satisfied that the country had taken positive steps to check illegal activity in this sector. In September 2000 the government of Antigua and Barbuda announced that it had strengthened its surveillance of money laundering and drug trafficking. In March 2009, the Stanford Financial Group, based in Antigua was found by regulators there and in the United States, of operating a massive ponzi scheme. The international bank controlled by the Stanford group is now in receivership pending the outcome of an investigation.

The retail sector is dominated by the sale of food and beverages, clothing and textiles, and vegetables. The main markets are located in the capital, St. John's. There are many street vendors and duty-free shops. The government has been taking steps to improve this sector. A US$43.5 million vendors' mall and market has been built to provide better facilities for retailers in the capital. In addition, a US$27 million fisheries complex now provides improved facilities for fish processing and retailing. A growing area of computer business on Antigua is Internet casinos.