Inaugural IDB-OECD Report on the Caribbean Highlights Regional Integration and Development Opportunities

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados– The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched a new publication, Caribbean Development Dynamics, that provides comprehensive insights into how Caribbean countries can unlock their economic potential through the energy transition, the blue economy, sustainable tourism, and the digital transformation.

The publication was presented at an event attended by IDB President Ilan Goldfajn, with the virtual participation of OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann, and panel discussions with Caribbean experts.

The report highlights the region's significant untapped potential for sustainable development while addressing its unique challenges. Key findings include:

• Regional Integration: The Caribbean's declining participation in global trade highlights the need for enhanced regional cooperation. Adopting a regional perspective, through initiatives like the IDB’s "ONE Caribbean", can leverage resources, cooperation, and economies of scale to improve transportation, connectivity, digital integration, and disaster risk sharing and reduction, fostering greater collaboration and unified growth among Caribbean nations.
• Climate Resilience: The Caribbean is highly vulnerable to climate impacts, with natural disasters costing an annual average of 2.13% of regional GDP from 1980 to 2020 and affecting 24 million people over that period. The report emphasizes the need for ambitious adaptation measures, resilient infrastructure, and strong early warning systems to build regional resilience.
• Social Inclusion: Despite socioeconomic progress, significant gaps remain. Nearly one in four Caribbeans lives in poverty, and 37% experience moderate or severe food insecurity. The publication calls for stronger social protection systems and enhanced efforts to promote gender equality.
• Productivity and Macroeconomic Stability: The Caribbean's potential GDP per capita growth is relatively low and public debt remains high. Strategies should focus on diversifying economies, improving the business environment, and enhancing agricultural productivity for food security. 
• Public Services and Trust: Citizen satisfaction with democracy and public services has declined. The report advocates for better data collection, evidence-based policymaking, and improved public services to rebuild trust and strengthen the social contract.
• Financial Resources: Caribbean tax revenues are below both regional and OECD averages and indicate a need to strengthen collection, rationalize tax expenditures, improve progressivity, and enhance international tax cooperation. On the financing side, innovative financial instruments, such as green and blue bonds, are highlighted as tools to mobilize resources for development.

Caribbean Development Dynamics focuses its analysis on 15 Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. To provide a comparative perspective, these Caribbean economies are analysed together with Latin America and OECD averages throughout the report. Additionally, when relevant, the analysis incorporates the perspective of the “Greater Caribbean,” including other countries and territories located in the Caribbean basin.