How was 2025 economically?

How was 2025 economically?

Measuring is not knowing. Numbers don’t tell the whole story

December 29, 2025

I looked at what the Central Bank, CBS, and IMF say about Curaçao’s economy in 2025. The picture they paint is strikingly positive—but it clashes with my own experience of life on the island. It confirms my aversion to data fetishism: measuring is not the same as knowing.

According to the CBCS, CBS, and IMF, the economy grew strongly (±3–4%), driven mainly by tourism, supplemented by construction and real estate. Inflation remained moderate (±2–3%), the balance of payments improved, and foreign reserves stayed well above the standard (>4.5 months of import coverage). Unemployment remained relatively low (±6–7%).

The IMF is optimistic about the short term but warns that the economy is heavily reliant on tourism and vulnerable to external shocks. Structural reforms and economic diversification remain essential.

What these numbers largely overlook is who benefits. The Gini coefficient has risen from (0.42 in 2011) to (0.46 in 2023), indicating growing inequality. Recent CBS data show that 80% of the population survives on less than 3,000 guilders per month, and 30% live below the poverty line. Curaçao remains the poorest country in the Kingdom, with a large informal economy of unknown size.

Macro-economic numbers reveal little about people’s everyday lives. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions temper the outlook for 2026. Curaçao must urgently focus on diversification, innovation, and education, but that will not succeed without better governance and less corruption—as the recent ARC investigation into SOAB clearly shows.

Measuring is not knowing. Beautiful statistics continue to conceal an uncomfortable reality.

Miguel Goede