Dominica - International trade

Dominica, although largely self-sufficient in food production, imports approximately twice as much in value as it exports, with imports of US$120.4 million dwarfing exports of US$60.8 million in 1998. Its main export markets are other Caribbean countries, which buy its vegetables, fruit, and soap, and the EU, which imports its bananas. Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries accounted for about 47 percent of Dominica's exports throughout the 1990s, and Europe for 36 percent. The United States imports little from Dominica, but is the main source of the island's imports (an average of 41 percent in the 1990s), notably machinery and manufactured goods. Dominica's other main suppliers are the CARICOM countries and Britain.