Saint Helena

2023-10-20

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha are British Overseas Territories located in the South Atlantic consisting of the islands of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha including Gough Island.

Saint Helena is located 1,950km southwest of Africa with a land mass of 121.7km² a population of 5.4 million people and a GDP of US$47.5m.

Less than a third of the island is suitable for farming or forestry. Principal crops are corn (maize), potatoes and green vegetables. Poultry, sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs are raised. Some coffee is grown for export. There are no minerals and virtually no industry, but some locally-grown timber is used for construction purposes. Fish, primarily tuna, are caught in the waters around St. Helena. Some is frozen at a cold-storage facility, the remainder is dried and salted on the island, and virtually the entire output is exported.


Sources: Who Owns Whom sector reports, CIA Factbook, African Development Bank, World Bank, Trading Economics, African Statistical Yearbook and IMF.