5. Economy and tourism

In this chapter, we examine the economies of the six islands. How big are the economies and what levels of economic growth have been seen in recent years? What are the main industries on the different islands? Finally, we look at inflation.

5.1 Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a commonly used measure for the size of an economy. GDP is roughly equal to what is produced, earned or spent within a country. The Caribbean Netherlands Macroeconomic Context Monitor Baseline Measurement (Nulmeting monitor macro-economische context Caribisch Nederland – CBS, 2024) provides more information on how GDP is measured. Per capita GDP is a narrower measure of economic prosperity. ‘Well-being’ is not addressed in this article. Before considering GDP, we first discuss the differences in currencies.

Currency

Not all of the islands use the same currency. As of 2025, the official currency of Curaçao and St Maarten is the Caribbean guilder. This is the successor to the Netherlands Antillean guilder and came into circulation on 31 March 2025. The currency of Aruba is the Aruban florin. It was introduced after Aruba gained status aparte within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1986 (previously, the Antillean guilder was also used here). The US dollar has been the official currency on the BES islands since 1 January 2011. Tourism and trade played a role in this decision. In order to be able to compare the size of the economies of the six islands, all amounts have been converted to US dollars.

As Chart 5.1.1 shows, Aruba and Curaçao have a larger economy; the other economies are much smaller. This partly reflects the size of their populations: the more inhabitants, the more people there are to produce and consume. However, this is not the only factor. For instance, although Aruba does not have the largest population, it does have the highest GDP. In order to compare prosperity levels between the islands, GDP per capita is generally used. As may be seen in Chart 5.1.2, this is by far the highest on St Eustatius (2021 figures). The levels on Bonaire, Saba and Aruba are fairly comparable, while on Curaçao and Sint Maarten they are substantially lower. The figures have not been corrected for differences in purchasing power (the equivalent of 1 US dollar buys more on one island than on another).

5.2 Changes in GDP

Chart 5.2.1a shows changes in the volume of GDP relative to the year before, a measure of economic development. An obvious negative outlier is the year 2020, when the economies of all six islands contracted. In that year, travel restrictions were in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, which had a major impact on tourism. However, the following year saw a strong recovery. It is striking that the economy of St Eustatius fluctuates significantly. This is related to the island’s dependence on a small number of large enterprises. It also means that the per capita GDP presented in the previous section is highly dependent on the year chosen for comparison.

In order to gain more insight into growth over the longer term, the changes in GDP volumes have been indexed from 2013 in Chart 5.2.1b. For Aruba and St Maarten, the first years in the series are missing. For these islands, the graph therefore begins later, at the average index of the other islands for that year. The figure reveals that Bonaire’s GDP has risen the most since 2013, and that the GDP of St Eustatius has contracted. The economies of the other islands have grown slightly; there is little divergence between them. Compared to the European Netherlands, growth since 2013 has been modest: in 2022, the GDP of the European Netherlands was nearly a quarter above that of 2013.

5.3 Gross value added by industry

For the four largest islands, information is also available on gross value added by industry. This provides insight into the structures of the economies and whether, for example, they are dependent on a limited number of industries. The figures are shown for 2021, the most recent year for which the figures are known for all four of the larger islands. This information is not available for St Eustatius and Saba because CBS is bound by rules on disclosure. This means it is not possible to publish the figures for certain industries on St Eustatius and Saba. However, the year chosen fell in the middle of the pandemic, and the figures may present a distorted picture as a result. Figures are not available for the period immediately after the constitutional reform.

As Chart 5.3.1 shows, financial services are very important to the local economy on Curaçao. This sector accounts for almost a quarter of the island’s total value added. It encompasses a number of banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions. The importance of tourism for all four of the islands is clearly demonstrated. For example, accommodation & food service is the most important sector on Aruba. Trade is also a relatively large sector on all the islands – this includes retail trade, such as shops and markets. Tourism also acts as a stimulus for business services, for example car rentals and travel agent services.

5.4 Tourism

As stated in the previous section, tourism is one of the most important sectors on all the islands in economic terms. In order to provide a picture of changes in the numbers of tourists on the islands and how the different islands compare, Chart 5.4.1 shows the number of cruise passengers for the period 2011 to 2023 (the major cruise companies do not call in St Eustatius or Saba). Cruise ships are an important source of income for many of the islands. What stands out in particular are the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic. After three bad years, passenger numbers finally returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023.

St Maarten receives by far the most cruise passengers. As such, the downturn caused by the pandemic was most severe for St Maarten. The number of tourists coming to Bonaire by cruise ship is generally much lower than for the CAS countries.

5.5 Inflation

This chapter concludes by taking a look at inflation. Inflation is the average increase in prices of consumer products. In order to be able to measure inflation properly, we first need to identify what residents of the islands spend their money on. We then look at the cost of the goods and services that residents buy. CBS obtains this information for Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba from written surveys, internet monitoring and external records, while some of the prices are documented by interviewers going from store to store. More information on how CBS measures inflation can be found in the Macroeconomic Context Monitor Baseline Measurement (CBS, 2024).

Because the methods used to chart inflation are not uniform, this can affect the comparability of the results. Inflation can also be influenced by differences in consumer spending patterns. This needs to be taken into account when interpreting the figures below. The periods for which the figures are available also differ substantially between the islands. For instance, the figures for Curaçao go back to 1970, while for St Maarten they are only available from 2019. Chart 5.5.1 shows inflation indexed from the constitutional transition (2011). For St Maarten, an index has been taken for the first available year equal to the average of the other islands in that year.

As Chart 5.1.1 shows, prices have risen by the most on Curaçao. Prices were 36.6% higher there in 2024 than in they had been in 2011. This is still slightly lower than the European Netherlands, where prices rose by 39%. Aruba saw the smallest increase in prices, at 13.4%. For most of the islands, inflation fluctuates around 2% annually, with 2022 as an obvious outlier. On all the islands in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, inflation was much higher in that year, ranging from 3.6% on St Maarten to 10% on Bonaire. Increased inflation was a global phenomenon. The most frequently cited causes of this global spike in inflation are the post-pandemic economic recovery and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The inflation figures are also relatively high for the years immediately following the constitutional transition in 2010. Research has been conducted into the possible causes of these price rises in the Caribbean Netherlands (Ecorys and Curconsult, 2017). After the reform, changes were implemented to various systems (tax, customs, care, social security) in a relatively short time-frame. These changes brought an element of uncertainty. This, in combination with the switch from the Antillean guilder to the US dollar, resulted in an upward price effect. There were also macro-economic causes for the relatively sharp price rises in this period, such as high oil and food prices and fluctuating exchange rates. Moreover, there was unrest in Venezuela, an important supplier.