The Cayman Islands economy has gradually picked up pace since the global financial crisis, which had a significant negative impact on the financial sector. Since 2014, the sector has returned to stable, albeit modest, growth and the economy has reaped the benefits from diversification to professional, scientific, and technical activities. This diversification, together with a boom in Parent Taxonomy: Tourism, pushed the growth rate of the economy close to pre-crisis levels, and inflation also reached positive levels again. In the meantime, skills shortages in the local economy led to strong growth in the number of work permits issued. The economy remains highly dependent on international developments, including, in particular, legislation and regulation regarding international taxation, financial institutions, and the international business sector in the United States of America (USA) and in the European Union (EU).