The economy has shown steady growth throughout the 1990s and prospects for the medium term look promising provided the islands can maintain tourism growth and compete with other islands offering offshore services. Its current dependence on tourism, however, necessarily makes it vulnerable to fluctuations in the world economy. The economy of Turks and Caicos has been transformed since the 1980 by growth in tourism and offshore financial services. After salt production, the islands traditional industry, ceased in 1964, there was little to generate legal income for two decades apart from fishing, government employment and some tourism. Agriculture and industry is almost non-existent.
Natural resources are limited and even water has to be strictly conserved.
As the economy has improved, this trend has reversed and the population is rising. Islanders have returned to work in the tourist industry and professionals trained abroad, such as are lawyers and accountants, are returning to practice in the islands. Tourism is a key source of revenue for the islands and has grown steadily. Arrivals of visitors staying on the islands have rise from 12,000 in 1980 to 67,000 in 1993 and 106,000 in 1998. There has been considerable investment in infrastructure, particularly airfields, hotels and marinas, nearly all on Providenciales.