April 18, 2023
The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) reported a 3.8% increase in Jamaica’s total value added at constant prices in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same quarter of 2021. Services and Goods Producing industries grew 3.6% and 4.7%, respectively. The economy’s continued recovery from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic aided performance.
Services Industries
Hotels & Restaurants (21.6%), Wholesale & Retail Trade; Repairs; Installation of Machinery & Equipment (1.3%), Transport, Storage & Communication (5.9%), Other Services (10.4%), Finance & Insurance Services (1.4%), Real Estate, Renting & Business Activities (0.6%) and Electricity & Water Supply (1.7%) all had higher activity levels. However, Producers of Government Services fell by 0.8%.
Increased activity in hotels and other short-stay accommodation, as well as restaurants, bars, and canteens, contributed to growth in the Hotels & Restaurants industry. A 36.5% increase in foreign national arrivals impacted hotels and other short-stay accommodation. During the period, 606,476 foreign nationals visited the island, up from 444,297 in 2021. Increased arrivals from the United States of America (24.3%), Canada (122.9%), Europe (43.2%), and Latin America (91.6%) were primarily responsible for the higher numbers.
Recreational, cultural, and sporting activities and other services sub-industries grew the Other Services industry. The increase in this sub-industry was primarily attributed to growth in other entertainment activities and tourist-related activities. The increase in events, resulting from the reopening of the entertainment sector, was the main contributor to the improvement in other entertainment activities. Stopover and cruise passenger arrivals boosted tourism. Stopover arrivals increased 33.7% from 493,964 in 2021 to 660,595. In 2022, 342,768 cruise passengers visited the island, up 449.4% from 62,385 in 2021.
Electricity consumption increased 1.3% to 807,818 MWh in 2022 from 797,551 MWh in 2021. In 2022, water consumption grew 3.3% to 4,528.8 million gallons from 4,385.4 million in 2021. The Electricity & Water Supply industry grew due to increased electricity and water consumption mainly by commercial entities.
Goods Producing Industries
Higher output levels were recorded for Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (5.9%) and Manufacturing (5.4%) and Mining & Quarrying (99.0%), Construction however declined by 4.8%.
Growth in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing was the result of increases in both sub-industries, Other Agricultural Crops (which includes Animal Farming, Forestry & Fishing) and Traditional Export Crops of 4.0% and 19.0% respectively. The major contributory factors influencing the increase was the continuation of programmes initiated by the Government, aimed specifically at optimizing productivity and favourable weather conditions during the period.
The uptick within the Manufacturing industry was due to increases in both the Food, Beverages & Tobacco and Other Manufacturing sub-industries of 2.8 % and 8.9% respectively. The growth in the Food, Beverages & Tobacco sub-industry was mainly due to increases in the production of meat & meat products, processing of fruits & vegetables, beverages, sugar & molasses and bakery products.
The rise in Mining & Quarrying industry was primarily attributed to increased output levels of alumina. Resulting from the resumption of operations at the Jamaica Aluminium Company (JAMALCO) plant in July 2022 from the fire that occurred in August 2021, alumina production rose by 191.8 % to 273.53 thousand tonnes during the period. This increase was reflected in a 181.3% rise in the volume of alumina exported. However, the production of crude bauxite fell by 12.8% was reflected in the 10.7% decline in the volume exported.
Notably, total value added grew by 0.3% when compared to the third quarter of 2022, a continuation of the trend evident since the third quarter of 2020.
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