Jamaica’s Trade Deficit Narrows in January 2026

  • Jamaica’s trade deficit narrowed in January 2026 by US$55.1Mn to US$458.4, as a broad-based contraction in imports outweighed the fall-off in exports. Despite this improvement, the export-to-import coverage declined marginally to 20.0% to (from 20.7% in 2025), meaning Jamaica earned only US$0.20 for every US$1.00 spent on imports.
  • Jamaica’s total spending on imports for January 2026 was valued at US$573.1Mn, representing an 11.5% decline when compared to the US$647.6Mn recorded in January 2025. The decrease was mainly driven by lower imports of Raw Materials/Intermediate Goods (-12.3%), Consumer Goods (-10.9%), and Fuels and Lubricants (-30.7%).
  • Earnings from total exports for January 2026 were valued at US$114.8Mn, representing a 14.4% decline compared to the US$134.1Mn earned in January 2025. This was driven by a 34.9% fall in the value of Crude Materials (Excl. Fuels).
  • Jamaica’s top five trading partners in January 2026 were the United States, China, Brazil, Japan and Trinidad and Tobago. Combined imports from these countries totalled approximately US$379.00Mn, representing a 0.3% increase compared to the US$378.00Mn in 2025.
  • On the export side, Jamaica’s main markets were the United States, the Russian Federation, Trinidad & Tobago, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. Total earnings from these countries fell by 3.1% to US$94.2Mn in January.
  • Ultimately, a narrowing trade deficit means fewer US dollars are leaving the country to finance imports relative to the foreign exchange earned from merchandise exports. This helps to ease depreciation pressures on the Jamaican Dollar (JMD). However, despite the modest improvement in January, largely driven by lower oil imports, the trade deficit is expected to widen in the coming months. The anticipated deterioration reflects rising import costs stemming from escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have pushed global oil prices higher and are likely to increase the value of imports within the Fuels and Lubricants division.
  • While declining remittances and tourism worsen this gap, for the fiscal outlook, a stronger JMD can decrease the local currency cost of servicing Jamaica’s US-dollar-denominated sovereign debt.

(Sources: STATIN & NCBCM Research)