Economic profile

British Virgin Islands – The Economy

In the British Virgin Islands it has long been fashionable to talk about the "twin pillars" of the Territory's economy – tourism and financial services.

Politically, tourism is the more important of the two, as it employs a greater number of people within the Territory, and a larger proportion of the businesses in the tourist industry are locally owned, as are a number of the highly tourism-dependent sole traders (e.g. taxi drivers and street vendors).

Economically, however, financial services are by far the more important. Nearly 50% of the Government's revenue comes directly from licence fees for offshore companies, and considerable further amounts are raised directly or indirectly from payroll taxes relating to salaries paid within the trust industry sector.

Substantial revenues are generated by the registration of offshore companies. As of 2006, over 774,000 companies were registered. Since 2001, financial services in the British Virgin Islands have been regulated by the independent Financial Services Commission.

Since 1959, the official currency of the British Virgin Islands has been the US dollar.

Some of the key features which lie behind the popularity of the BVI are

VP Bank (BVI) Limited

The only provider in the BVI able to offer the complete solution to its clients due to the joint venture of ATU and VP Bank, which together offer the entire range of financial services under one roof.