COVID-19: The Caribbean Crisis: Results from an Online Socioeconomic Survey

COVID-19 has triggered a severe and unprecedented economic crisis in the Caribbean region. The combination of the halt in tourism arrivals, the fall in international oil prices, and a widespread roll out of curfews is having a severe economic impact on the region. All six countries in the IDB's Caribbean Department, namely The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago are now expecting a worse economic outlook than that forecast in January 2020. The majority of these countries' economies are forecast to contract in 2020, their fiscal out-turn has worsened, and their debt is growing at a faster pace than had originally been foretasted for 2020. This paper presents the results of these online surveys by country. Which in turn is hoped that the evidence presented on livelihoods will inform policymakers and add to the body of research being produced during these unprecedented times.