SIDS Factsheet 2017

SIDS

Note: The boundaries shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

Factsheet 2017 Who are SIDS? Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a distinct group of 38 UN Members States and 20 Non-UN Members/Associate faced with unique social, economic and environmental challenges that hinder their development progress. SIDS are spread in three geographical regions: Caribbean, Pacific, and the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea (AIMS).

Caribbean

Atlantic-Indian Ocean-South China Sea (AIMS)

UN Members (16)

Non-UN Members (13)

UN Members (9)

• Antigua and Barbuda • Bahamas • Barbados • Belize • Cuba • Dominica • Dominican Republic • Grenada • Guyana • Haiti* • Jamaica • St. Kitts and Nevis • St. Lucia • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Suriname • Trinidad and Tobago

• Anguilla • Aruba • Bermuda • British Virgin Islands • Cayman Islands • Curacao • Guadeloupe • Martinique • Montserrat • Puerto Rico • Sint Maarten • Turks and Caicos • U.S. Virgin Islands

• Bahrain • Cabo Verde • Comoros* • Guinea-Bissau* • Maldives • Mauritius • Sao Tome and Principe* • Seychelles • Singapore

Non-UN Members (0)

*Also Least Developed Country

Total Population

Pacific UN Members (13)

Non-UN Members (7)

• Federated States of Micronesia • Fiji • Kiribati* • Marshall Islands • Nauru • Palau • Papua New Guinea • Samoa • Solomon Islands* • Timor-Leste* • Tonga • Tuvalu* • Vanuatu*

• American Samoa • Commonwealth of Northern Marianas • Cook Islands • French Polynesia • Guam • New Caledonia • Niue

in 2010

65 million

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Life expectancy at birth in SIDS is estimated to be around

70 years .

3

Cuba is the most populated island with 11.4 million inhabitants1.

Niue is the least populated

n o i at

of SIDS is

1.2%.

expectancy and

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declining

fertility, has led to changes in the age structure of of many SIDS populations.

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From 2010 to 2015, the average annual growth of population

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with 1,600 inhabitants2.

Life E

Increased life

Agriculture, fishing, and turism provide employment

40% of the labor force

USD 10,032

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(2015) using 2011 purchasing power parity4.

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Gross Domestic Product per capita is

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for up to

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in many SIDS including: The Dominican Republic, Samoa and Fiji.

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Employment opportunities for citizens with

skills low

specialized

is and remains a significant contributor to “brain-drain.�

See more: SIDS In Numbers: Updated Climate Change Edition (2017)

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Pacific Islands, youth The youthyouth unemployment rate ranges from unemployment is estimated at 23%, but reaches 18% to 47% among countries in the Caribbean, with the exception of Trinidad and Tobago, and the jobs available 63% in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, to working young people are often in low-skill areas with 54% in Kiribati and 46% in the Solomon Islands . limited mobility.

In the

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Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

Learn...

Climate Finance • While small states have begun to access global climate funds, their adjustment needs are under-funded by as much as USD 1 billion annually7.

Official Development Assistance (ODA)

• SIDS are disproportionately vulnerable to natural disasters. On average, the annual cost of disasters for small states is nearly 2% of GDP—more than 4 times that for larger countries6.

• About 9% of disasters in small states involve damage of more than 30% of GDP, compared to less than · 1% for larger states.

• While the bulk of ODA-eligible SIDS are • A study by OECD, World Bank (2016) classified as upper-middle income countries, • Over 1/3 of small states are assessed by staff to the largest share – 46% – of concessional flows estimates that financing to build be at extreme risk of natural disasters, resilience to climate change disasters over 2012-2013 was channeled to the 9 SIDS increased, reaching USD 1 billion in 2014. comprising 5 Pacific countries (Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, within LDC category.

Tonga, Vanuatu), 6 Caribbean countries (Antigua However, this represents only 14% of the • Apart from 2010 when Haiti received and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, concessional finance SIDS receive. high exceptional aid in the wake of St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and 2 other the earthquake, concessional finance small states (Comoros and Maldives). to SIDS has remained fairly constant since the 2000s, before starting to decrease in 2011.

• In 2014, gross concessional flows to SIDS, both bilateral and multilateral, represented USD 4.7 billion, or 3.5% of total gross ODA, a decrease of 14% per year over 2010-14.

• The net ODA flows to SIDS have hovered at approx. USD 3 billion over the past decade.

• Total aid volumes to SIDS increased by 66% in real terms from 2000 to 2013 while the share of total

official assistance decreased from around 3.5% in 2000 to well under 2% in 2013.

Trade • SIDS experiences volatility in the global trading systems due to their small size and remoteness from larger markets.

• Some SIDS are more vulnerable to global trade imbalance due to a lack of economic diversification, over-dependence on exports of primary products and on external capital flows and susceptibility to damage from natural disasters.

Economy • GDP of SIDS varies greatly with Singapore having the highest (USD 222.7 billion) and Tuvalu having the lowest (USD 31.4 million).

• SIDS economies depend heavily on fisheries, tourism, and agriculture.

• Tourism alone contributes to over 50% of exports of many SIDS including Barbados, Grenada, Cabo Verde, Maldives, and Vanuatu.

• Fisheries account for 10% of GDP and over 50% of exports in many SIDS. • Mineral rents accounts to 35.55% GDP of Papua New Guinea in 2011.

• Natural gas rents and oil rents accounted for 24.48% and 13.16% of GDP of Trinidad and Tobago respectively.

• In Samoa and Fiji agriculture is a major economic activity and the majority of local farmers depend on coconut for their livelihood.

Vulnerabilities of SIDS

Environmental → SIDS has high degree

→ Of the 27 countries and territories most vulnerable

to coral reef degradation and loss, 19 (70%) are small-island states, where people are more likely to depend on reefs significance with Comoros, Fiji, Grenada, Haiti, Kiribati, and Vanuatu the most vulnerable.

→ SIDS are characterized by fragile natural environments

(falling fish stocks, threatened biodiversity, limited water availability, land management challenges).

→ Many SIDS lack sufficient resilience to deal with the rising incidence of natural disasters (storm surges, droughts, landslides).

→ On average, SIDS have 26% of their land area

growth in most SIDS creates stress for the provision of basic services and job opportunities.

→ The extensive spatial dispersion of some island

groupings affects the ability of government to deliver public services and increases their relative costs.

→ Population growth, concentration of agricultural lands

and infrastructures in coastal zones creates sea level rise, affecting settlements, living conditions and economies.

→ SIDS are also primary net food-importing countries, with some SIDS spend up to 50% of the total imports on food compared with the world average of 7%.

This makes SIDS exceptionally vulnerable to price volatility in global food prices.

5 meter above sea level, while Maldives and Tuvalu have 100% of their total land area below 5 meters making SIDS highly threatened by sea level rise.

→ 9 SIDS are identified as either already in debt distress or at high risk of it,

including Comoros, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Maldives, Sao Tome and Principe, St Lucia, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, and Tonga.

References

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Social

→ Rapid population

of threats to biodiversity loss with over 400 species of flora and fauna considered endemic.

CHALLENGES TO AC HIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Economic

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