A review of data over a five-year period was conducted to determine the policy, production, marketing and pricing parameters that characterise the Caribbean small ruminant industry, using lamb as the main indicator of economic activity. The data was analysed to determine whether the industry was achieving competitiveness in the global environment. It was found that the contribution of imports in meeting total demand rose by nearly 20 percentage points from 1990 - 2000, and that the retail price of local lamb remained significantly higher than that of imported lamb in most territories. Despite being uncompetitive in terms of price, it was found that socioeconomic, ecological and food security concerns were sufficient to warrant continued investment in the regional small ruminant industry.