Economy

This chapter contains information on hotels, government agencies and other listings, as well as useful tips for visitors on a range of topics such as visa requirements, currency and transportation, among others.

The smaller island of Tobago has a history of colonial rule by a succession of different European powers, including Spain, France and Britain, and in 1889 the British government first grouped the island with Trinidad under a single colonial administration. Trinidad & Tobago sought and achieved independence from British colonial rule in 1962 and became a repub¬lic in 1976. A significant...

At first glance, the newly elected government of Trinidad and Tobago faces a formidable first year, marked by one of the deepest slumps in energy prices seen in recent decades. According to provisional data by the Central Bank of T&T, the twin-island economy contracted by 2.1% in 2015, with GDP down 3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of the year, reflecting a 5% contraction in the...

Trinidad and Tobago stands out in the Caribbean and the Americas as a comparatively wealthy, hydrocarbons-based economy with rich and diverse cultural traditions and a robust democratic system. The twin-island country has a population of 1.35m people and a per capita GDP that places the country among the wealthiest in the Americas, behind the US and Canada, and ahead of most Caribbean and...