Economy Of Tristan Da Cunha

As stated on our homepage, all of Tristan Da Cunha's citizens are farmers by trade. All land on Tristan is owned communally, and livestock is controlled to ensure that better off families don't build up excessive wealth.

Official statistics of its economy are not known; nominal GDP figures are not published. Tristan's main currency is Pound Sterling (£), and they also use the Saint Helenian pound. Whilst this island is a British dependency, it is not allowed direct trade access to the European Union.

Tristan Da Cunha's main source of income is the island's lobster factory, which it sells via the South African company Ovenstone to the United States and Japan (Overnstone focus more on selling Tristan's crayfish - small lobsters). Tristan also sells coins and postage stamps abroad - the public interest in Tristan Da Cunha means this is a profitable venture.

A few economic mishaps have harmed the island's economy. In 1961, a volcanic eruption (from Tristan Da Cunha, which is a volcanic island) destroyed the island's crayfish factory. In modern times, Tristan crayfish demand in the USA has been declining, setting the country's economy back greatly.

This has meant that they have had to borrow from their reserves. In turn, this has harmed Tristan's ability to update its communication equipment and education methods without delays. Even worse than this, a fire in February 13th 2008 destroyed the fishing factory and two power generators. Since fishing is a main part of their economy, this has caused further problems for Tristan's economy.

Since the harbour got damaged in the fire, and everything comes and goes (including medical supplies) via boat, Royal Engineers from the British army have been fixing the harbour and helping to maintain it.