June 24, 2020
During the period January to March 2020, Jamaica’s imports amounted US$1,329.4 million decreasing by 19.0% relative to US$1,641.5 million for the corresponding period in 2019 based on data released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). Revenue from total exports totalled US$346.7 million for the period under review, a decline of 22.3% when compared to the US$445.9 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$510.8 million. This is 35.0 per cent below the US$785.8 million recorded for the period January to March 2019. Earnings from total exports to the USA amounted to US$178.8 million, an increase of 11.1 per cent when compared to the US$160.9 million earned in 2019.”
Traditional Domestic Exports
Traditional Domestic Exports for the review period were valued at US$142.5 million, approximately of 47.6% below last year’s US$271.9 million. STATIN noted, “Traditional domestic exports accounted for 42.5% of total domestic exports earnings.”
Non–Traditional Domestic Exports
Notably, Non-Traditional Domestic Exports over the period January to March 2020 earned US$192.8 million, a 23.7% increase. Notably, this increase was attributable to increases in “Beverages & Tobacco” (Excl. Rum)” by 21.3% and “Other” Non-Traditional Domestic exports by 41.9%.
CARICOM Trade
The imports from CARICOM amounted to US $69.8 million for January to March 2020, a 17.6% drop relative to US$84.8 million reported the corresponding period last year. The major commodity group that contributed to this decline was imports of “Mineral Fuel, etcetera.” “Mineral Fuels, etcetera” were valued at US$6.7 million relative to US$24.2 million in the comparable period.
Total exports to CARICOM earned US$21.8 million in the current review period, an increase of 4.0% from the US$20.9 million earned last year. Re-exports for January to March 2020 were valued at US$3.4 million. Furthermore, domestic exports were valued at US$18.4 million, an increase of 4.9% relative to the US$17.5 million booked in the 2019 period. However, this was mainly attributable to exports of “Mineral Fuel, etcetera” which amounted to US$2.7 million compared to US$0.5 million earned for January to March 2019.
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