1. EXPORT BULLETIN
Special Bulletin of the Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN)
ISSUE # 6 March 2010 |1
Trade Overview CONTENTS
Trade Overview P.1
In 2008, the St. Kitts and Nevis economy spent circa US$194mn more in
Exports Overview P.2
merchandise imports (i.e. goods) than merchandise exporters earned. The St.
Kitts and Nevis economy continues to face serious growth challenges including an
ever expanding international trade deficit. The problem of the ballooning trade
deficit is compounded by the fact that even with revenue from the services
sector, the economy still spends more on imports than it generates from export
sales. This ultimately has significant implications on international debt, and
provides a strong motive for the promotion of viable exports. This bulletin
attempts to provide information on some of those viable export opportunities.
Fig. 1: St. Kitts & Nevis’ merchandise trade performance
ST. KITTS & NEVIS
Official Name: Federation of Saint
Christopher (Kitts) and Nevis
Area: 269 sq. km. (104 sq. mi.)
Capital: Basseterre (pop. 15, 000)
Population (2005 UN estimate):
46, 000
Source: tradeMAP database, retrieved January 27, 2010
Currency: Eastern Caribbean Dollar
($EC)
Terrain: Generally mountainous.
Between 2001 and 2008, merchandise export sales increased by 13.2% annually Climate: Tropical
to expand from US$31mn to US$74mn. Merchandise import expenditure Airport: Robert L. Bradshaw
experienced marginal growth as between 2001 and 2008, merchandise import International Airport
expenditure grew by over 5.1% annually. Ultimately this lead to an expansion of
Source: OTN Information Unit 2010
the merchandise trade deficit from US$158mn in 2001 to almost US$194mn in
2008.

2. |2
In 2007, St. Kitts and Nevis services exporters generated US$161mn in sales, whilst the St. Kitts and Nevis market
absorbed US$114mn in import spending, therefore generating an intangibles (services) trade surplus of circa US$47mn.
The services surplus however, was not adequate to address the merchandise trade deficit which implies that there is still
the need to promote greater exports of goods and services.
Export Overview
St. Kitts and Nevis’ exports are not adequately diversified both in terms of the products, services1 exported, and the
markets which are serviced. St. Kitts and Nevis top export market in 2008 was the United States of America (USA). The
USA accounted for over three‐quarter of the total merchandise export earnings in 2008. In 2008, other top export
markets included Canada (6.7% of 2008 merchandise export earnings); Azerbaijan (5.1%); Czech Republic (1.5%);
Germany (1.3%); Argentina (1.2%); Chinese Taipei (0.7%); Croatia (0.6%); Barbados (0.6%) and Ukraine (0.6%).
The most dynamic markets for exports from St. Kitts and Nevis between 2004 and 2008 included Chinese Taipei (309%
growth per annum); China (240%); St. Vincent and the Grenadines (197%); Sweden (130%); South Africa (65%); Barbados
(54%); Indonesia (52%); Aruba (42%); Denmark (37%) and France (26%). These markets could be amongst those for any
priority market penetration activities based on the strength of the growth trend. However, these dynamic export
markets are not major sources of export earnings as they jointly accounted for 3.1% of the total earnings for St. Kitts and
Nevis exporters in 2008.
The top exports are detailed below.
1
St. Kitts and Nevis’ services export earnings are concentrated in travel services (i.e. tourism). In 2007, St. Kitts and Nevis earned over 66% of the total
services export earnings from travel services. In 2007, other dominant services exports included other miscellaneous business, professional and technical
services; legal services; communication services; and other direct insurance services.
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3. |3
In 2008, St. Kitts and Nevis’ top 15 products generated over 81% of total export earnings. Therefore, these products are
major export poles. The top 15 exports are composed of manufactured products, with a strong concentration in the light
electrical products industry.
Between 2004 and 2008, St. Kitts and Nevis’ most dynamic merchandise exports included variable resistors, including
rheostats and potentiometers, nes (678% growth in sales per annum); Transformers electric power handling capacity not
exceeding 1 KVA, nes (242%); Electrical machines and apparatus nes (200%); Filtering or purifying machinery and
apparatus for gases nes (194%); Parts of electrical machines & apparatus havg individual functions,nes (191%); Parts for
diesel and semi‐diesel engines (155%); Parts for filterg or purifyg mchy & apparatus for liquids or gases,nes (133%);
Filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids nes (132%); rum and tafia (72%); live primates (33%) and
beauty or make up preparations (34%). These exports have potential for diversifying the export base.
St. Kitts and Nevis exports a number of products in which they were ranked in the top thirty exporting nations in 2008.
Based on their top 30 export share, these products could be a priority of any export development programme and
included live primates (17th); variable resistors, including rheostats and potentiometers, nes (25th); and wirewound
variable resistors, including rheostat and potentiometers (28th).
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Table. 1: St. Kitts & Nevis’ Top 15 Exports
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