The principal exports are nutmeg, cocoa, bananas and sugar cane. There are extensive timber reserves but exploitation is being strictly limited to prevent deforestation. The fishing industry has grown in recent years and now earns one-sixth of export earnings. There are thought to be some oil and gas deposits off the southern coast of Grenada, and attempts to locate them continue.
Industry is confined to production of nutmeg oil and rum, plus drinks, paint and paper.
The economy has been generally depressed throughout the 1990s, largely as a result of low world commodity prices, and approximately half the workforce is unemployed. The main source of income for the island has been remittances from the estimated 100,000 Grenadians working abroad, mainly in the USA, Canada and Europe. Grenada also relies on foreign aid from the USA, the UK, Canada and the European Union. The UK and the USA are the island's main trading partners.