Opposition Leader Mark Golding has baulked at statistics often cited by the government concerning the country’s economy while expressing that people know the reality of their lives.

During his contribution to the 2025/2026 Budget Debate on Tuesday, Golding outlined the challenges facing the country and many Jamaicans. He said the government cannot use statistics to justify that citizens are not struggling. “You cannot use statistics to tell a struggling man that he’s not struggling; you cannot use statistics to tell a hungry child that they are not hungry or an underpaid worker that he or she is doing well in life,” he said.

Additionally, he noted that Jamaica’s national wealth is stagnant as the economy is hardly growing. “In fact, our economy experienced negative growth in 2024 and was in a technical recession at the end of the last two quarters in December 2024,” he said.

Golding further outlined that the credit rating agency Fitch, in its recent assessment of Jamaica, made the telling point that Jamaica’s credit rating remains constrained by deep structural weaknesses, including subdued growth potential owing to a high crime rate, low productivity, weak demographics, and vulnerability to external shocks, some weather-related.

“Macroeconomic indicators do not always tell the full story. Jamaica has statistically low overall unemployment numbers at 3.5 per cent. Jamaica still suffers from chronic unemployment, low wages, and unstable incomes.

“According to the World Bank, 50 per cent of non-agricultural jobs are informal with no benefits or security. So, despite being employed, many Jamaicans are still struggling and are essentially working poor. They are unable to withstand sickness or other unexpected events. Too many of our people are in this vulnerable position despite being employed,” Golding continued.

He also emphasised that the reality is that many Jamaicans are unable to set aside any savings for the future, even though they have a job. “Due to the unstable nature of much of the employment from which the statistics are derived, many workers are effectively locked out of the housing market; lending institutions are unwilling to extend mortgages to individuals whose employment situations are precarious,” he said.

Golding indicated that this is reflected in the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) report, which states that 55 per cent that is, more than half of Jamaicans, are facing moderate to severe food insecurity and health concerns due to low wages.

“Our people cannot afford to buy enough nutritious foods to live a healthy life… this case of food insecurity has resulted in adverse health outcomes. We have an epidemic of diabetes, many call it sugar, hypertension, many call it pressure, and far too many people are getting strokes; some depend on cash pot winnings to determine whether they can provide a meal for their families on a given day,” he added.

Golding also underscored that for the economy to grow and increase in wealth, citizens should be receiving adequate pay to sustain their families. “If employment is increasing but the economy is not growing, it means that productivity is falling. If employment is increasing but national wealth is stagnant, it means that jobs are being created, but they are low-paying jobs that cannot sustain a decent quality of life.”

He also highlighted that Jamaica has the second highest rate of brain drain in the world because of the aspirations of people to migrate to other countries for better opportunities while also indicating that the country struggles to keep university graduates and other trained professionals.

“Another area where the data confirm what we have been saying is in our trade deficit; we are not producing enough either for our own use or to sell abroad. Jamaica has a massive chronic trade deficit.”

Golding expressed that the country accounted for US $6.1 million annually in imports but exports of just US $1.5 million in the first 10 months of 2024. “This gap is mainly financed by remittance money sent home by family members in the diaspora who support their loved ones here at home. Now, even that is under some threat with all the global uncertainty. Jamaica cannot plan its future based on such a deep reliance on remittances, which we do not control. We need to execute a strategy to reduce this vulnerability,” he continued.

He further stated that Jamaica’s main imports are oil and gas, which in 2023 were US $3.6 billion, and that they remain the main source of fuel for electricity and transportation and also food to feed the citizens and tourist visitors at US $1.6 million in 2023.

“We must replace imported fuels as much as possible with renewable energy sources like solar, hydro, and wind that we are blessed with in abundance. Similarly, we must produce food here to rely less on imports from abroad [and] we need to grow Jamaica’s economy so that everyone has a good life right here where we live,” Golding said.