St Lucia CIP Registers 85% Growth, Real Estate Claims 70% of Applications

Saint Lucia has finally released statistics for its Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) for the 2022-2023 fiscal year (FY22/23). The report arrives more than a year late, a matter that Deputy Prime Minister Ernest Hilaire publicly apologized for, according to The Voice Saint Lucia, citing “a number of factors, some of which were beyond the control of the [Citizenship by Investment] Unit” as the reason for the delay.

During his apology, Hilaire pointed out that the “Board must submit its annual report within three months after the end of each financial year” and that “better must be done.”

The reporting delay notwithstanding, Saint Lucia’s CIP has shattered all of its previous records, registering considerable application and approval growth in FY22/23.

The program received a record-breaking 1,076 applications in FY22/23, nearly as much as the past three years combined. This represents 85% growth in the number of applications.

Approvals also grew, albeit at a lower rate. The 544 approvals in FY22/23 are 25% higher than the previous year, but still lag the increase in applications numbers, suggesting the backlog that Saint Lucia's Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) faces continues to grow.

Rejections remain relatively stable, dropping from nine in FY21/22 to 8 the past financial year.

The government received a record number of files in FY22/23, marking a whopping 343% increase on the previous year. The number of citizenships the government granted grew by 88% in FY22/23, while the government only denied one more file (3) than in FY21/22 (2).

The real estate investment option was by far the most popular in FY22/23, accounting for 70% of all applications, increasing 222% year-on-year (YoY). The CIU received 751 applications under the real estate option the past fiscal year, more than double of all real estate-based applications of all the previous years combined.

Only one real estate project was eligible for the CIP in FY22/23, Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate's Canelles Resort. The developer should have raised around US$203 million in investments through the CIP in the past year alone.

Applications under the National Economic Fund (NEF) donation option dropped slightly (5%) and accounted for about one in five of applications, while the bond option saw a modest increase of 6%.

Unsurprisingly, the real estate option contributed to the overwhelming majority of total contributions (77%), while NEF contributions came in second (16%), and bonds last (7%).

The data show that demand for the program in FY22/23 was the most diverse in terms of nationalities in the past three years (for which data were available). The top five nationalities made up 55% of all applications, much less than their 74% share in FY20/21.

Chinese applicants maintain their top spot, but have dropped 11% (in terms of overall percentage, not absolute number). Nigerians are still in second place, albeit dropping 5%, while Americans have preserved their overall share of 10%, highlighting a growing interest from US nationals as approval numbers have increased.

The CIU's total revenue has grown 11% YoY, but the breakdown remains consistent with past years. Administrative fees are the largest contributor (42%), followed by due diligence fees (33%), and NEF contribution marketing and promoting fees (20%).

The CIU's expenses increased 43% in FY22/23, a lower annual jump than the past year (47%), but it means that the CIU has seen its expenses increase 90% in the past two fiscal years.

Marketing and promotional expenses decreased 77%, and agents/promoters commissions dipped 4%. All other active expenses increased, but none as much as marketing agents commissions and settlement payments as the government paid out about US$2.7 million, a 948% increase on the previous year.

The net result for FY22/23 remains positive, as the CIU posted a balance of EC$ 22.8 million (approximately US$8.4 million), but it is almost 20% lower than FY21/22's balance, which remains the record year in terms of net results.