Jamaican Economy Grew by 3.8% Q4 2022

• During the fourth quarter of 2022, the Jamaican economy grew by 3.8% relative to the fourth quarter of 2021. This resulted from growth in the Services and Goods Producing Industries of 3.6% and 4.7%, respectively, reflecting the continued recovery of the economy from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• All industries within the Services Industries grew, except for the Producers of Government Services which fell by 0.8%. The top performers were Hotels & Restaurants (21.6%), Other Services (10.4%), and Transport, Storage & Communication (5.9%). The removal of COVID-19 restrictions significantly benefitted the services industries as the growth in Hotels & Restaurants was mainly influenced by a 36.5% increase in foreign national arrivals during the period.
• The increase in the Goods Producing Industries was largely due to higher output levels in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (5.9%), Manufacturing (5.4%), and Mining & Quarrying (99.0%). However, value added for the Construction industry declined by 4.8%. The Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing industries benefitted from favourable weather conditions while the resumption of operations at the JAMALCO plant impacted the performance of the Mining & Quarrying industry.
• Preliminary estimates from the PIOJ indicated that the Jamaican economy grew by 5.2% in the calendar year 2022. For FY2023/24 growth is projected to be between 1.0%–3.0% largely reflecting a faster-than-expected pace of recovery in the previous fiscal year leading to an earlier-than-anticipated normalisation of output and a return to the long-term trend of growth.

(Sources: STATIN & PIOJ)