The Barbados Campus of The University of the West Indies was opened at the Harbour Site in the 1960s and it is there that Economics was first taught in the Division of Survey Courses. When the Campus moved to its current location at Cave Hill in September 1967, the teaching of Economics continued in the Division of Survey Courses until the Division was abolished in 1972. On August 1, 1972, the Department of Economics was formed within the Faculty of Arts and General Studies. In 1975, a Faculty of Social Sciences was set up at the Cave Hill Campus and the Department of Economics became a unit within the Faculty.

The Department of Economics is one of the three departments in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Cave Hill Campus of The University of the West Indies. The Department is responsible for the teaching of all economics, finance and quantitative courses that are part of the various degree programmes offered by the Department; some of the quantitative courses are also core courses for some of the degree programmes offered by other departments in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

 The Department of Economics offers programmes at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level (Undergraduate/Postgraduate). Graduates of these programmes will have enhanced ability to ascertain the critical issues involved when analysing economic problems and to give appropriate advice.

The courses and programmes offered by the Department seek to satisfy the needs of Barbados and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean. Detailed information on our undergraduate courses can be found in the Faculty of Social Sciences Handbooks, while information regarding our postgraduate courses can be found in the department’s  Postgraduate Handbook.