BRB · snapshot 2026-08-09
Barbados
MediumOverall risk score
37.0
Percentile of scored universe
32th
Data coverage
75%
vs Australia (16.1)
+20.9
Category breakdown
Political Stability & Governance
Low6 indicators · 100% coverage
Economic Resilience
High5 indicators · 75% coverage
Financial & Currency Risk
Very High4 indicators · 68% coverage
Business Environment
Insufficient dataInsufficient data
Security & Crime
Medium3 indicators · 75% coverage
Climate & Social Compliance
Low2 indicators · 65% coverage
Technology & Digital
Medium4 indicators · 100% coverage
Cultural Distance
Insufficient dataInsufficient data · not in overall score
Key risks and considerations
Barbados rates Medium for market entry — an overall risk score of 37.0, less risky than 68% of rated economies and 21 points riskier than Australia.
The main risk drivers are no double-tax agreement with Australia, no investment-treaty protection with Australia, a boom-bust growth record (±8.3 pp over the decade), a restricted capital account that complicates repatriating profits and violent crime (7.4 homicides per 100k).
Relative strengths: political stability & absence of violence/terrorism, organised crime pervasiveness, disaster risk all sit in the least-risky quarter of rated economies.
Possible mitigations
- Getting money out. Confirm profit-repatriation channels before committing capital: seek central-bank pre-approvals where required, consider an export-first model over an in-country entity, and structure via clear remittance jurisdictions.
- Withholding tax. No double-tax agreement with Australia: model withholding tax on dividends, interest, and royalties into the business case — it can decide the entity-vs-export question.
Generated automatically from this snapshot’s indicator data — a starting point for analysis, not advice.
Indicators
| Indicator | Value | Risk score | Rating | Australia | Data source year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Stability & Governance | ||||||
| Voice & accountability (WGI) | 74.2 | 17.3 | Low | |||
| Government effectiveness (WGI) | 63.1 | 29.5 | Medium | |||
| Regulatory quality (WGI) | 61.8 | 30.0 | Medium | |||
| Rule of law (WGI) | 69.5 | 24.4 | Low | |||
| Control of corruption (WGI) | 72.7 | 13.3 | Low | |||
| Political stability & absence of violence/terrorism (WGI PV) | 87.6 | 5.1 | Low | |||
| Economic Resilience | ||||||
| GDP growth (3-yr average, %) | 2.6% (3-yr avg) | 15.0 | Low | |||
| Growth volatility (10-yr std dev, pp) | ±8.3 pp | 90.6 | Very High | |||
| Government net debt (% of GDP) | 93.5 | 65.0 | High | |||
| Inflation (CPI %, vs income-group target) | 0.8 | 35.0 | Medium | |||
| Current account (3-yr average, % of GDP) | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| FX reserves (months of import cover) | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| GDP per capita (PPP, current intl $) | $25,894 | 44.5 | Medium | |||
| Financial & Currency Risk | ||||||
| Capital-account openness (Chinn-Ito KAOPEN) | 0.16 | 78.0 | Very High | |||
| Currency stability (regime-aware classification) | Pegged — one fragility flag | 65.0 | High | |||
| Sovereign credit risk (OECD country risk classification) | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| FATF listing (grey / black list status) | Not listed | 0.0 | Low | |||
| Double-tax agreement with Australia | None in force | 100.0 | Very High | |||
| Business Environment | ||||||
| FDI regulatory restrictiveness (OECD FDIRRI) | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| Logistics performance (World Bank LPI) | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| Business readiness (World Bank B-READY pillar average) | 57.2 | 64.3 | High | |||
| Investment protection with Australia in force (BIT or FTA investment chapter) | None in force | 100.0 | Very High | |||
| Security & Crime | ||||||
| Armed-conflict intensity (battle deaths per 100k, 5-yr) | 0.0 | 29.7 | Medium | |||
| Intentional homicide rate (per 100k) | 7.4 | 75.5 | Very High | |||
| Organised crime pervasiveness (GI-TOC criminality score) | 2.9 | 8.3 | Low | |||
| DFAT Smartraveller advisory level | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| Climate & Social Compliance | ||||||
| Physical climate vulnerability (ND-GAIN vulnerability) | 0.397 | 31.8 | Medium | |||
| Disaster risk (INFORM Risk Index) | 2.1 | 11.5 | Low | |||
| Modern-slavery prevalence (per 1,000) | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| Modern-slavery vulnerability score | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| Technology & Digital | ||||||
| E-government development (UN EGDI) | 0.7 | 46.9 | Medium | |||
| Internet users (% of population) | 70.4 | 65.3 | High | |||
| Cybercrime origination (World Cybercrime Index) | 0.0 | 10.0 | Low | |||
| Secure internet servers (per million people) | 1171.8 | 48.6 | Medium | |||
Per-indicator ratings are quartile bands of the 0–100 risk score. The Australia column shows the same indicator’s raw value for the Australian baseline in this snapshot.
Cultural distance
GLOBE 2004 societal practices · rated on distance from Australia · not in the overall score
Context — not scored
Unemployment
6.5%
Displayed, never scored: ambiguous for an entrant and unreliable where informal employment dominates. (2025, ILO modelled)
Trade agreement
No Australian FTA in force
Market access is decision-relevant but a benefit, not a risk — kept out of the rating.
Regional advisories
No higher regional advisory levels
DFAT Smartraveller sub-national advice where it exceeds the overall level.
Compare with
A score means little on its own. These economies scored closest to Barbados in this snapshot, which is the fastest way to see whether the rating is telling you something specific or something regional.