Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Disaster Risk Management Cat-DDO

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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), with a population of 110,947 (2020), is a small, upper-middle-income island state in the Eastern Caribbean, with a tourism-based economy highly dependent on its natural environment. Over 91 percent of the population resides on mainland Saint Vincent, while the remainder lives across the Grenadines. It is highly exposed to climate-induced hydrometeorological and geophysical hazards, which significantly impact its economic and fiscal stability and the safety and well-being of its population. Catastrophic events such as hurricanes pose a greater risk and cause a more significant financial impact. The Average Annual Loss (AAL) from hurricanes is estimated at US9.0 million dollars, 1.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while the AAL from earthquakes is US1.7 million dollars (0.2 percent of GDP). The La Soufriere Volcanic Eruption of 2021 resulted in estimated gross financing needs of US$175 million (23 percent of GDP). Hurricane Beryl, the most powerful hurricane to impact the country since 1875, which made landfall on July 1, 2024, caused an estimated economic damage of US230.6 million dollars (22 percent of 2023 GDP), straining SVG’s ongoing post-volcanic eruption recovery efforts.