Higher Imports and Total Exports for January to September 2022  

• For the period January to September 2022, Jamaica’s total spending on imports were valued at US$5,829Mn, and earnings from exports at US$1,272.5Mn, reflecting YoY increases of 37.1% and 10.2% respectively.
• The increased expenditure on imports was largely attributable to higher imports of “Fuels and Lubricants”, “Raw Materials/Intermediate Goods” and “Consumer Goods” which rose by 75.9%, 30.4%, and 27.3%, respectively. Decades-high inflation impacting goods and services on the world market is a key reason for higher costs of imports.
• The increase in the revenues earned from export was due primarily to an 84.2% increase in the value of exports of “Mineral fuels”. The growth in total exports was influenced by a 137.9% increase in re-exports. However, domestic exports declined by 5.2%, mainly due to the 55.9% fall in exports from the Mining and Quarrying industry due to lower exports of Alumina. This is mainly due to the reduced production capacity (50%) at one on Jamaica’s major plants, Jamalco. The plant is expected to be back at full production capacity by September 2023.
• The five main import partners for January to September 2022 were the United States of America (USA), Trinidad and Tobago, China, Brazil and Japan. Imports from these countries increased by 47.0% to US$3,841.6Mn. This was due largely to the higher imports of fuel from the USA and Trinidad and Tobago.
• The top five destinations for Jamaica’s exports were the USA, Puerto Rico, the Russian Federation, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Exports to these countries increased by 32.7% to US$978.2 million when compared to the corresponding period in 2021. This increase was attributed to higher exports of fuel to the USA.

(Source: STATIN)