However, it was lower than the average rate of growth of “all small island states” in the world and at the other extreme, emerging Asian countries grew at nearly three times the pace observed in the Caribbean. Almost all the countries in the Caribbean region suffered declines in per capita incomes in the 1980s.
In many cases, the poor growth performance continued in the 1990s. A notable exception is, of course, Trinidad and Tobago, where the implementation of economic policy reforms and the resurgence of world oil prices led to a resumption in per capita growth. Since 2000, real GDP growth in the Caribbean has improved somewhat and per capita incomes have risen marginally.