Antigua and Barbuda has been listed as the fastest-growing economy in the Caribbean, according to a new report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

In its just-released Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean report for 2024, ECLAS says the twin-island Caribbean country is projected to see its economy grow by 6.3 per cent in 2024. The annual report, which is prepared by the Chile-based agency indicates that this projected 6.3 per cent growth is higher than any other country in the region.

The report says this upward projection is set to continue to be strong in 2025 with a forecasted Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 4.8 per cent. The Gaston Browne-led country even tops the longtime regional economic giant in the Dominican Republic, which is projected for 5.2 per cent growth this year.

Antigua and Barbuda is followed St Vincent and the Grenadines (4.7 per cent) and Dominica at 4.6 per cent in the top three. The data represents a very strong signal of the strength of the Antiguan economy, buoyed by surging tourism arrivals in 2024 that are projected to break a new record, local tourism officials told Caribbean Journal. 

Through July, the country reported that it had received 205,004 stayover arrivals, a 16 per cent growth rate compared to 2023. More crucially, that represents an 11 per cent jump over the same period in 2019, the previous banner year for the destination. 

That data was shared by Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority CEO Colin C James with Caribbean Journal during a briefing at the State of the Tourism Industry conference in the Cayman Islands last week. The ECLAC report also suggested Antigua and Barbuda would see a “significant increase” in inflows from the country’s citizenship by investment programme.