Saint Domingue grew to be the wealthiest colony in the French empire and, perhaps, the richest colony in the world. During the 18th century, Saint Domingue became France's most prosperous New World possession. The economy of Saint Domingue expanded with the growing of indigo, tobacco, coffee, cotton and cacao; by 1767 it became the richest colony in the world, and it became known as the "Pearl of the Antilles", it was the greatest jewel in imperial France's mercantile crown.
Saint Domingue produced about 40 percent of all the sugar and 60 percent of all the coffee consumed in Europe; it exported 51 millions of raw sugar, 72 millions of refined sugar, 2 million pounds of cotton, and 1 million pounds of indigo, generating enormous income for the French government and increasing its power. By the 1780s, nearly two-thirds of France's foreign investments were based on Saint Domingue.