Jamaica’s Trade Deficit Fell Slightly by 1.3% in May

• Jamaica’s trade deficit fell slightly to US$2.23Bn for the January to May 2024 period, down 1.3% relative to the same period in 2024. The decline reflects a falloff in expenditure on imports despite a decline in the value of exports.
• Jamaica's imports declined to US$3.05Bn for the period, down 2.4% year on year and was largely due to a reduction in imports of “Raw Materials/Intermediate Goods” and “Fuels and Lubricant”, which fell by 13.5% and 8.2%, respectively.
• The declines in “Fuels and Lubricant” and “Raw Materials/Intermediate Goods” could be attributed to reduced imports of crude oil, which decreased by 10.1%, and construction materials, which fell by 20.3%, due to lower imports of iron and steel for construction, along with non-metallic mineral manufactures.
• However, a 57.7% decline in the re-export of “Mineral Fuels” resulted in revenues from exports falling by 5.4% to $823.9Mn.
• From January to May 2024, Jamaica's primary import source markets were the USA (38.9%), China (8.8%), Japan (4.1%), Brazil (3.7%), and Trinidad and Tobago (3.2%). Import spending on goods from these nations dropped by 10.4% to US$1.79Mn, mainly due to a significant reduction in "Mineral Fuels" from the USA and Brazil.
• On the export side, the USA (40.2%), Iceland (9.6%), Russia (7.6%), Canada (5.9%), and Netherlands (5.0%) were the top five markets for Jamaican exports. Despite the falloff in total exports, export earnings to these five countries rose by 26.6% to US$562.2Mn, chiefly due to higher exports of alumina to Iceland.

(Source: STATIN)