Country profile · Caribbean
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago is a two-island country in the southern Caribbean, about 11 km from Venezuela at the closest point. It has about 1.4 million people. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar returned to power in May 2025. She strongly backs US military operations near Venezuela. Gas, LNG, ammonia and methanol earn most of the country's export income.
Where Trinidad and Tobago ranks
All rankings →Who runs Trinidad and Tobago?
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was born in Siparia on April 22, 1952, into a Hindu family of Indian descent. She was baptized in the Spiritual Baptist faith as a child and calls herself both Hindu and Baptist. She studied in London, Jamaica and Barbados, worked as a teacher and then became a lawyer. She was the first woman attorney general in 1995 and the first woman prime minister in 2010. Her United National Congress lost the 2015 election, and she led the opposition for 10 years. In the election of April 28, 2025 the UNC won 26 of 41 seats (chart). Persad-Bissessar took office on May 1, 2025. Keith Rowley of the People's National Movement had stepped down as prime minister in March 2025. Pennelope Beckles, the first woman to lead the PNM, is now opposition leader. President Christine Kangaloo has held the mostly ceremonial post since March 2023. On Tobago, the Tobago People's Party won all 15 seats in the island's own assembly on January 12, 2026.
- UNC (Persad-Bissessar) 26
- PNM 13
- Tobago People's Party 2
Photo (September 2025): Freddie Everett, US Department of State, Wikimedia Commons, public domain (cropped)
Who are Trinidad and Tobago's allies and rivals?
Venezuela is about 11 km from Trinidad across the Gulf of Paria. In September 2025 US forces began striking boats they said carried drugs from Venezuela. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar backed the strikes from the first one. She said: "I have no sympathy for traffickers; the US military should kill them all violently." Most other Caribbean leaders were more careful. The US destroyer USS Gravely visited Port of Spain in October 2025, and a US radar was set up at Tobago's airport from November 2025 to March 2026. Venezuela suspended its energy deals with Trinidad and Tobago and declared Persad-Bissessar persona non grata in October 2025. She said CARICOM, the Caribbean community, was "not a reliable partner." On January 3, 2026 US forces captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago said it took no part. Relations with Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, warmed. On September 23, 2026 she and Persad-Bissessar announced a "new era." Trinidad and Tobago will sit on the UN Security Council in 2027 and 2028.
Allies and partners
United StatesLargest trade partner; Persad-Bissessar backs its strikes
GuyanaBacked on the Essequibo border dispute
VenezuelaShared gas fields; ties restored in September 2026
ChinaSecond-largest supplier of imports
United KingdomFormer ruler; final court still in London
- Dragon gas field Venezuelan gas field that Shell plans to develop. First gas is hoped for in late 2027 or 2028.
- Point Fortin Atlantic LNG plant, which uses about 47% of the country's gas. One of its four units has been shut since 2020.
- Point Lisas Industrial estate with ammonia and methanol plants. Nutrien announced in October 2026 that its plants would stay shut.
- Tobago airport A US military radar stood here from November 2025 to March 2026.
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Partner
Who does Trinidad and Tobago trade with?
Trinidad and Tobago exported $10.0 billion of goods in 2024 and imported $7.5 billion (Central Bank). Energy products made up 83% of goods exports in 2025. The United States bought 27.1% of exports (chart), and Guyana, with its new oil industry, bought 8.4%. The United States also supplied 31.6% of imports, and China 13.9%. Trinidad and Tobago was the world's largest exporter of ammonia in 2024, and one of the largest of methanol. In the 2000s it supplied most of the LNG the United States imported. Since July 24, 2026 the United States has charged a 10% tariff on its goods. The finance ministry expects the economy to shrink 2.2% in 2026, after 0.5% in 2025. The government's savings fund held $6.45 billion in September 2026. The budget of October 12, 2026 plans a deficit of 2.1% of GDP. The state oil refinery at Pointe-à-Pierre closed in 2018, and the government is looking for investors to restart it.
Sells to
Share of Trinidad and Tobago's exports
- United States27.1%
- Guyana8.4%
Netherlands6.7%- China4.0%
Chile4.0%
Buys from
Share of Trinidad and Tobago's imports
- United States31.6%
- China13.9%
Brazil5.9%- United Kingdom5.9%
Japan3.9%
Goods, 2024. UN Comtrade (exports as reported by the buying countries, imports as reported by Trinidad and Tobago).
Why is Trinidad and Tobago running short of gas?
Trinidad and Tobago produced about 4.07 billion cubic feet of gas a day in 2014. By 2025 output had fallen to about 2.54 billion, a drop of about 38% (Ministry of Energy). The EIA counts 25.3 billion cubic meters in 2024, about the same as Venezuela (chart). The government blames ageing fields, water entering wells and outages. Atlantic LNG shut the first of its four units in 2020 for lack of gas. Methanex idled its Titan methanol plant in July 2026, and Nutrien announced on October 5, 2026 that its four ammonia plants at Point Lisas would stay shut, with about 350 jobs lost. New fields should help: BP's Ginger is expected in early 2027 and Shell's Manatee in late 2027. Gas from Venezuela could follow. Shell plans to develop the Dragon field there, and BP the Manakin-Cocuina field across the border. Burning so much gas for industry gives Trinidad and Tobago the fifth-highest CO2 emissions per person in the world, 22.9 tonnes in 2024.
How is Trinidad and Tobago fighting crime?
Trinidad and Tobago recorded about 625 murders in 2024, a record, or about 46 for every 100,000 people. A state of emergency began on December 30, 2024, and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declared two more, from July 2025 to January 2026 and from March 3 to September 17, 2026. The last one led to 5,802 arrests and 3,552 people charged. Murders fell to 369 in 2025, the lowest since 2014, and police counted 265 killings from January to September 2026. A Special Operations Act took effect on October 6, 2026. It lets the government declare closed areas with curfews and some searches without a warrant, and it expires after two years. A "stand your ground" law lets people use force against home invaders since January 2026. The death penalty for murder is still mandatory, but the last hanging was in 1999. Violence has deep roots. In July 1990 an Islamist group stormed Parliament and held the prime minister and his cabinet hostage. The six-day siege left 24 people dead.