SEATTLE — The money raked in by Starbucks gift cards is approaching the size of a small country’s economy.

The company says more than $25 billion has been loaded onto its gift cards since they were launched a decade and a half ago.

That’s about the gross domestic product of Trinidad and Tobago.

A fifth of that amount was loaded onto Starbucks cards just in the fiscal year ended in October, which points to a big acceleration in recent years. And that snowball is still rolling, with Starbucks saying it’s on track for “another record performance” in gift card sales this holiday season.

The cards are a critical component of Starbucks’ bid for growth. They bring people who might not otherwise go to Starbucks into the store.