Prime Minister Gaston Browne has declared that Antigua and Barbuda now ranks among the highest-income countries in the Caribbean, pointing to World Bank figures showing a significant rise in per capita income over the past decade.
According to Antigua News Room, Browne made the remarks during his Browne and Browne Show on Saturday, citing World Bank 2024 statistics that place the country's per capita income at US$21,300, while suggesting the figure has since climbed even higher.
"The World Bank just recently published the 2024 statistics, and they have the per capita income for Antigua and Barbuda at US$21,300 and something," Browne said. "In fact, it's probably more. It's over US$22,000 per head right now."
Browne said those numbers position Antigua and Barbuda among the region's most prosperous economies. "It means that we are probably the second or third highest-income country within the Caribbean, probably only exceeded by Barbados and possibly The Bahamas," he said.
The prime minister noted that when his administration took office in 2014, the country's per capita income stood at approximately US$14,000. "When we came in, it was US$14,000 per head. If we have now taken it up to US$22,000-plus, we've added another US$8,000," he said.
Browne acknowledged that per capita income does not reflect the earnings of every individual, but argued that the increase — combined with what he described as a declining Gini coefficient — suggests economic gains have been distributed more broadly across the population.
However, the prime minister pointed to a significant drawback of the country's elevated income status: reduced access to concessional financing from international lending institutions. "The downside is that it precludes us from concessional loans," Browne said, noting that higher-income countries typically face shorter repayment periods and less favourable borrowing terms than lower-income nations.
Despite this challenge, Browne said the country has continued to secure concessional financing. He cited ongoing arrangements with China and a recently obtained concessional loan from Saudi Arabia to support the expansion of the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus.
