KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) says the island had registered export earnings of US$511.1 million during the first four months of the year, a 1.3 percent increase over the US$504.4 million earned for the corresponding period last year.
Photo credit: Kingston Freeport TerminalIn a statement, STATIN said the increase was primarily due to a 52.9 percent hike in the value of exports under the category ‘Mineral Fuels’ and that domestic exports for the January to April period rose by 1.4 percent to US$438.9 million, accounting for 85.9 percent of total outflows.
STATIN said this mainly resulted from a 43.3 percent rise in manufacturing industry exports.
The top-five destinations for Jamaican products were the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom (UK).
It said exports to these countries, which increased by 35.5 percent to US$424.2 million, were largely attributed to higher outflows of fuels to the US.
Meanwhile, import expenditure for the review period rose by 34.4 percent to US$2.34 billion, due to increased spending on all sub-categories of goods inflows.
Imports of ‘Raw Materials/Intermediate Goods’ totaled US$717.4 million, which was 31.8 percent higher than the US$544.2 million spent during the corresponding period in 2021.
Total expenditure on imported ‘Fuels and Lubricants’ climbed by 48.1 percent to US$705.1 million, relative to the US$476.1 million spent in 2021. Imports of ‘Consumer Goods’ rose by 37.8 percent to US$592.0 million, compared to US$429.6 million spent last year.
Jamaica’s five main trading partners for the review period were the US, People’s Republic of China, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ecuador.
STATIN reported that total expenditure on imports from these countries increased by 40.5 percent to US$1.45 billion and accounted for 62.3 percent of total inflows. This was largely due to higher imports of fuel from the US and Ecuador.
