One of Trinidad and Tobago’s most eye-catching statistics is its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Averaging more than $20,000 per person, it is the highest in the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean. Estimates by the Economist Intelligence Unit and local data place Trinidad and Tobago well above Uruguay and Chile, which rank second and third in terms of GDP per capita. Trinidad and Tobago's GDP per capita is twice as high as Brazil's and Mexico's.
This performance can be explained mainly by the way in which the country’s oil and gas resources have fuelled its economy for years. What the government wants to do now is reduce its dependence on these natural resources and grow other sectors of the economy. Plans to develop an international financial centre (IFC) are part of this initiative.
