Statistical Update: Gross Domestic Product

New estimates of economic activity on St Helena for 2024/25

This release presents new estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Income (GNI) for 2024/25, plus some small revisions to estimates for previous years. The statistics and indicators presented in this Bulletin can be downloaded in Excel format here, but note that all estimates should be considered provisional: GDP estimation is a complex task and developing appropriate methods and data sources is an ongoing program of work.

Gross Domestic Product

GDP is a key indicator of economic activity used around the world, and on St Helena it measures the total value of all the goods and services produced on the island during a year. For 2024/25, GDP at market prices (which is the standard measure) is estimated to be £40.7 million. Compared to 2023/24, the volume of goods and services produced by the economy is estimated to have fallen by 1.5%, a decrease in GDP in real terms (i.e. adjusting for price inflation) of around £0.6 million (Table 1).

Table 1. Estimates of Gross Domestic Product, 2020/21 to 2024/25, £ million

Over the last five years, from 2020/21 to 2024/25, GDP has fallen in real terms by almost £5m, or 11%. But the total number of people on St Helena who contribute to GDP – both residents and visitors – on St Helena has also fallen, from an estimated average of 4,527 in 2020/21 to 4,212 in 2024/25 – a drop of around 7%. It should also be noted that 2020/21 was unusual, since it was heavily affected by the COVID19 pandemic – and the greater government spending that it caused resulted in a real-terms increase in GDP that year.

Adjusted for the size of the population, GDP was estimated to be £9,660 per person in 2024/25, or $12,330 (Table 2). In real terms, when inflation is taken into account, GDP per capita in 2024/25 (in St Helena pounds) was the same as the previous year. But GDP per capita has fallen over the last five years, from £10,080 in 2020/21.

Table 2. Estimates of Gross Domestic Product per capita, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Breakdown of GDP by industrial activity

Table 3 shows the share of total value added by each major activity grouping (industrial activities are classified according to Revision 4 of the UN International Standard Industrial Classification, grouped to avoid disclosure of information about individual companies). Value added is the key component of GDP, and represents the total output of sole traders, businesses, government, and non-profit organisations, less the value of intermediate consumption (i.e. the value of goods and services used in the process of producing final goods or services).

The largest sector in the economy in 2024/25 was Public Administration (19.9%), followed by Finance, Insurance, Information, and Communication (16.4%), Human Health and Social Work Activities (15.2%), and Wholesale and Retail Trade (including the Repair of Motor Vehicles) (12.1%). These four groups of activities account for just under two-thirds of all value added in the economy (63.6%).

Table 3. Value Added by industrial activity, 2024/25

Gross National Income

A useful alternative measure to GDP is called Gross National Income (GNI), which values the economic activity of the Island’s residents, regardless of where that activity takes place. This is different to GDP, which is a measure of the total value of goods and services produced within the territorial boundaries of St Helena, regardless of whether that value is produced by its residents. GNI is derived from GDP by adding an estimate of the income earned abroad by residents and deducting an estimate of the income earned on St Helena by non-residents.

Table 4 shows the nominal levels of GNI and GNI per capita since 2020/21. St Helena’s estimated GNI per capita level is not yet high enough to have crossed the World Bank threshold that defines a ‘high income’ country, and instead St Helena would be classified as ‘upper middle income’. One important implication of this is that the financial support it receives from the United Kingdom and other official aid donors is classified as Official Development Assistance.

Table 4. Gross National Income, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Revisions

GDP estimation and measurement methods are complex and development of St Helena’s National Accounts is an ongoing programme of work. All estimates published in this bulletin should be considered provisional and subject to future revision as additional data sources become available and further improvements are made to the methodology. This release includes small revisions to some estimates, particularly for 2023/24, as a result of improved data for that year (for instance, the 2023/24 estimate of GDP at market prices was revised from £39.4 million to £39.7 million).

Methodology, questions, or comments

For the details on St Helena’s approach to measuring GDP, together with limitations and differences from standard methods, please click here. We welcome your questions and comments; to meet the team and get in touch, please click here.