Labor market in St Vincent and Grenadines

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has a fragmented labor-market system rather than one single labor-market authority. The Statistical Office produces census and labor-force statistics. The Department of Labour provides employment services, registers job seekers, publishes vacancies, offers job-search support, conducts workplace inspections and handles conciliation and labor advice. The National Insurance Services contributes social-security and occupational-health information. The Ministry of Education, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, the Skills Development and Training Agency and the National Qualifications Department support training and skills recognition. The 2023 Population and Housing Census recorded a working-age population of 86,382, a labor-force participation rate of 65.53% and 29,778 people outside the labor force. Participation was 70.92% for men and 60.08% for women. The 2022 Labour Force Survey reported 48,230 employed people. Its strict measure counted 54,080 people in the labor force and 5,850 unemployed people, or 10.8%; its relaxed measure counted 60,930 people and 12,700 unemployed people, or 20.8%. The relaxed measure includes people who wanted and were available for work even when they were not actively searching, so the two figures describe different forms of labor-market detachment. Services provide the largest employment base. Market services accounted for 41.9% of employment in 2022 and included trade, transport, accommodation and food services, and business and administrative services. Non-market services accounted for 26.9% and included public administration and community and social services. Construction represented 11.9%, agriculture 10.6%, manufacturing 6.1%, and mining, quarrying, electricity, gas and water 1.6%. Tourism, accommodation, business-process outsourcing, call centres, information technology, construction and agricultural diversification are central areas of change. Agriculture remains relevant, but the loss of the traditional banana market weakened its historical role. Employment is concentrated unevenly across the census divisions. Calliaqua had the largest employment base in the available census data with 11,606 employed people, followed by the Suburbs of Kingstown with 7,168 and Kingstown with 4,855. The 2022 Labour Force Survey recorded the highest labor-force participation in the Southern Grenadines at 80.9%, followed by the Suburbs of Kingstown at 79.9% and Chateaubelair at 79.5%. Northern Grenadines recorded 65.8%, Calliaqua 68.2% and Layou 69.1%. These differences reflect local access to jobs and do not represent separate provincial labor markets. The occupational profile is led by services and sales occupations at 25.6%, elementary occupations at 14.9%, craft and related trades at 13.5%, and skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery work at 10.2%. Construction employment was 90.8% male, while non-market services were 69.8% female and professional occupations were 72.4% female. Youth participation was 57.9% in 2022, youth unemployment was 34.7%, and 21.3% of people aged 15 to 24 were not in employment, education or training. Reported barriers included too few available jobs, insufficient educational qualifications and, for women, a lack of suitable training opportunities. Communication, leadership, teamwork and interpersonal skills were among the most frequently requested soft skills. Dependent workers made up 77.2% of employment. Private employees accounted for 22,640 people, central government employees for 9,670 and statutory-board employees for 3,140. Self-employment included 7,900 people without employees and 3,080 with employees. The survey classified 20,150 workers, or 41.8%, as informal and 22,940, or 47.6%, as formal, with agriculture reported separately. Informal work can involve no written contract, no payslip, no paid annual leave or work-related benefits, a contributing family role, domestic work, or a business that is not registered with the National Insurance Services or does not keep accounts. Average usual working time was 38.7 hours per week, while 17.4% of workers worked more than 48 hours. Median gross annual income in 2022 was EC$14,560.86, with EC$14,805.53 for men and EC$14,247.25 for women. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines uses sector-specific minimum-wage orders rather than one single national minimum-wage rate. Examples in the Department of Labour's 2024 material include EC$50 per day for some agricultural workers, EC$57.60 per day in certain industrial work, EC$1,200 per month for some security work, EC$1,275 per month for shop cashiers and room attendants, and EC$9.20 per hour for specified full-time call-centre work. The applicable order, occupation, employment status and current Department of Labour guidance determine the amount. The labor market also depends on education, vocational training and mobility. The Skills Development and Training Agency coordinates technical and vocational education and training, while the National Qualifications Department coordinates National Vocational Qualification and Caribbean Vocational Qualification certification and recognition of prior learning. The St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College offers certificates and associate degrees through areas such as engineering, hospitality, agriculture, business and maritime training. Programs vary in entry requirements, duration and fees; examples include one-year certificate programs, two-year associate degrees and industrial attachments. The Department of Labour's employment services and the SVG Labour Market Information System connect vacancy, skills, wage and training information, although vacancy data from the 2020 Labour Demand Survey should not be treated as a current vacancy count. Cross-border work is supported through the Department of Labour's Overseas Migrant Workers Programme and the legal framework for recruiting workers. From 1 October 2025, nationals of Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines received full free movement within those four participating states, including the right to enter, reside and work without a work permit, residence permit or Caribbean Community Skills Certificate. Other Caribbean Community states apply their own immigration rules. For approved skilled categories outside that full-free-movement group, the Caribbean Community Skills Certificate procedure requires evidence such as qualifications, a passport, civil-status documents, a police certificate and photographs. The National CSME Focal Point is located in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment and Diaspora Affairs. The labor market has changed through the COVID-19 disruption, the 2021 La Soufrière eruption and the expansion of service activities. Government budget material reports growth in accommodation and information services between 2015 and 2025, while also identifying structural unemployment and shortages in critical skills such as pharmacology. Climate resilience, tourism, call centres, information technology, construction, agricultural diversification, skills recognition and occupational safety are likely to shape future demand. Labor-market figures must be read with their reference year because census, survey, administrative and policy data do not measure the same population or period.