May 27, 2020

During the period January to February 2020 the Jamaica’s imports amounted US$941.1 million decreasing by 14.3% relative to US$1,098.3 million for the corresponding period in 2019 based on data released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). Revenue from total exports totalled US$238.2 million for the period under review, a decline of 15.2% when compared to the US$280.80 million earned in the similar period in 2019.

STATIN highlighted, “Expenditure on imports from the United States of America (USA) – Jamaica’s main trading partner were valued at US$355.5 million. This is 32.8% below the US$529.0 million recorded for the period January to February 2019. Earnings from total exports to the USA amounted to US$134.4 million, an increase of 27.4% when compared to the US$105.5 million earned in 2019.”

Traditional Domestic Exports

Traditional Domestic Exports for the review period were valued at US$92.3 million, approximately of 44.8% below last year’s US$167.3 million. STATIN noted, “Traditional domestic exports accounted for 39.7% of total domestic exports earnings.”

Non–Traditional Domestic Exports

Notably, Non-Traditional Domestic Exports over the period January to February 2020 earned US$139.9 million, a 33.8% increase. Notably, this increase was attributable to increases in “Beverages & Tobacco” (Excl. Rum)” by 15.5%, “Crude Materials” by 2.6% and “Other” Non-Traditional Domestic exports by 65.4%.

CARICOM Trade

The imports from CARICOM amounted to US $42.7 million for January to February 2020, a 30.7% drop relative to US$61.7 million reported the corresponding period last year. The major commodity group that contributed to this decline were imports of “Mineral Fuel, etcetera” and “Food”. “Mineral Fuels, etcetera” were valued at US$3.4 million relative to US$21.5 million in the comparable period. Imports of ‘‘Food’’ decreased by 3.3% and were valued at US$23.5 million.

Total exports to CARICOM earned US$11.5 million in the current review period, a decrease of 11.8% from the US$13.0 million earned last year. Re-exports for January to February 2020 were valued at US$1.8 million. Furthermore, domestic exports were valued at US$9.7 million, a decrease of 13.1% relative to the US$11.2 million booked in the 2019 period. However, exports of “Food” amounted to US$4.8 million compared to US$5.5 million earned for January to February 2019, a decrease of 12.3%.

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