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Significance
The islands most affected were Barbuda, St Martin and Sint Maarten, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Given their dependence on tourism as a main source of revenue, the damage caused by Hurricane Irma will have negative economic consequences across the region.
Impacts
The more northerly islands outside the hurricane zone may experience a short-term uptick in tourism.
A prolonged downturn in tourism in some islands may increase dependence on the financial services industry.
This may undermine previous efforts to crack down on off-shore tax havens.
The rising number of high-strength hurricanes in recent years may raise insurance costs even in islands not directly affected by Irma.
Keywords:
Caribbean,
LA/C,
Anguilla,
Antigua and Barbuda,
Cuba,
Dominican Republic,
Haiti,
Puerto Rico,
Turks and Caicos,
Virgin Islands,
Virgin Islands (British),
France,
Netherlands,
United Kingdom,
United States,
economy,
industry,
aid,
finance,
infrastructure,
insurance,
natural disasters,
tourism
© Oxford Analytica 2020. All rights reserved. This content contains general information about geopolitical, macroeconomic and social developments or (where stated) other matters. It does not contain advice or recommendations that may be relied on. Where links to external websites are provided, this does not indicate that Oxford Analytica or Emerald agree with, endorse or have checked for accuracy the contents of said sites.
2017
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