Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaica’s total spending on imports for the period January to August 2024 contracted to US$4.94 billion, while earnings from total exports were down to US$1.195 billion.

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) reports that the value of imports was 2.6 per cent lower than the US$5.07 billion spent for the January to August 2023 period.

This decline was largely attributable to lower imports of Raw Materials/Intermediate Goods and Fuels and Lubricants, which fell by 12.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively. 

The International Merchandise Trade bulletin for January to August 2024 shows revenue from total exports contracting by 13.8 per cent over the review period compared to the US$1.38 billion earned for January to August 2023.

This was due primarily to a 60.5 per cent fall in the value of re-exports. 

Small rise in domestic exports

However, earnings from domestic exports for the 2024 review period increased by 1.1 per cent to US$1.06 billion, due to an 8.7 per cent rise in the value of exports from the Mining and Quarrying industry.

Jamaica’s five main trading import partners for the period January to August 2024 are the United States of America (USA), China, Brazil, Japan and Colombia.

Expenditure on imports of goods from these countries fell by 3.8 per cent to US$2.99 billion compared to US$3,115.0 million recorded in the same period of 2023. This decrease was largely due to a 5.9 per cent fall in imports of “Mineral Fuels”. 

The top five destinations for Jamaica’s exports were the USA, the Russian Federation, Iceland, the Netherlands and Canada.

The value of total exports to these countries increased by 10.3 per cent to US$843.4 million due mainly to a 49.5 per cent increase in the value of exports of “Crude Materials”.