Q3 Processing Surge Propels Grenada CIP Toward Record Revenue Despite Drastic Application Decline

Although the number of new applications dropped by 71% year-over-year in Q3, Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) is expected to achieve record processing numbers and revenue in 2024, thanks to unprecedented operational efficiency and a large backlog of applications.

The latest statistics from the Investment Migration Authority (IMA) show that Q3 recorded 178 applications, exceeding the total applications for the first half of 2024 by 20%.

Q3 began with a strong reversal, as July saw a 191% surge in applications. Together, July and August recorded 140 applications, while September’s numbers dropped to 38—still 60% higher than the 2024 monthly average.

This increase coincided with Grenada’s decision to delay raising the minimum investment requirement due to the impact of Hurricane Beryl.

This brings the total number of applications in the first nine months of 2024 to 326, with a projected year-end total of 435—a sharp decrease compared to 2,297 applications in 2023.

The processing efficiency reached a new record in the third quarter. The agency handled 337 applications in July alone—a record high for a single month—followed by 87 applications in August and 136 in September.

This achievement contributed to a total of 1,455 applications processed in the first nine months of 2024—just 48 short of the total for 2023—putting Grenada on track to process around 1,940 applications by the end of the year, potentially exceeding last year’s total by 29%.

Real estate investment dominated in the third quarter, accounting for 75% of approvals—the second-highest rate since 2015.

The National Transformation Fund (NTF) attracted the remaining 25%, highlighting the growing gap between the two investment routes.

The rejection rate in Q3 rose to 8%, doubling the 3.9% rate from H1 2024 but still aligning with the program’s historical average of 7.7%.

The data reveals a robust financial performance, with $126 million EC ($46.6 million USD) contributed to the NTF and $211 million EC ($78 million USD) invested in real estate. The program’s net revenue for the quarter amounted to $180 million EC ($66.6 million USD), generating an average monthly revenue of $60 million EC ($22.2 million USD).

This brings the 2024 total to EC$390 million (US$144 million), and with improved processing efficiency and the continued work on the application backlog, 2024 revenue is set to surpass 2023’s total despite the significant decline in applications.

The average revenue per approved application remains steady at US$240,000, close to but still below the 2023 figure.

The Q3 data reveals that Chinese citizens remain the largest applicant demographic, representing 24.4% of the total. However, Nigerian applicants are catching up, now comprising 23.8% of the overall applicant pool.

Ukrainians have risen to become the third-largest group, with a 5.9% share, surpassing Americans whose proportion has decreased from 7% to 4.9% compared to the Q2 report.