Trinidad and Tobago is classified as an upper middle income country in the World Development Report of the World Bank. GDP growth is currently exceeding a healthy 7% due to the rise in energy prices, and the country is now ranked 54th in the Human Development Index.

Trinidad and Tobago, an important oil and gas producing country, is moving towards the status of an industrialized country. There are currently eleven downstream industries that have been identified for development in Trinidad and Tobago; which include:

1. Music and Entertainment
2. Film
3. Merchant Marine
4. Yachting
5. Food and Beverage
6. Fishing and Fish Processing
7. Printing and Packaging
8. Downstream from Energy 
9. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Economic growth has averaged between 3.2% and 5.5% per annum over the past six years and is continuously rising.

The currency unit is the Trinidad and Tobago Dollar (TTD). A floating rate system was introduced on April 7th, 1993, at the rate of TTD$5.76 to USD$1.The exchange rate, has however, remained virtually constant over the past five years (currently at TTD$6.32 to USD$1).

Unemployment has decreased to 5% within the last year; the lowest unemployment rate recorded. The economy has successively been buoyed by the strong recovery in international oil prices and higher levels of domestic production, which has boosted government revenue from the oil sector by over 200% since early 1999. However, public finances remain vulnerable to fluctuations in international oil prices, but this issue is being rectified by the development of the downstream industries in the country.

Economic growth has been driven primarily by the petroleum sector, which has expanded by some 8% over the last five years. Despite this expansion, many local and foreign investors are seeking to diversify and expand the non-energy sector in the country. Energy, however, continues to dominate the economy.

The abundant reserves of natural gas and government initiatives have encouraged huge inflows of foreign direct investment into downstream gas-based projects. Since April 1999, with the opening of the Atlantic Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant, the gas can be exported in large quantities, and shipped to the US and Spain.

The investment boom in the energy sector spurred activity in the construction, distribution, transport and the local manufacturing sectors. It is quite evident that the country is becoming an industrialized nation. Its problems and priorities are also changing accordingly. Environment protection, poverty alleviation and tourism development seem now to become more important targets for government policy. Bearing in mind, however, the abundant reserves of natural gas and government initiatives have encouraged huge inflows of foreign direct investment into downstream gas-based projects.