KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica has spent less on imports for the first time in three years.

This is according to information contained in the latest International Merchandise Trade Bulletin released on Friday by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The latest bulletin covers the period January – December 2023.

It highlights that Jamaica’s total spending on imports for January to December 2023 was valued at US$7,592.1 million, while earnings from total exports were valued at US$2,001.8 million.

For the 12-month period, the value of imports fell by 1.8 per cent when compared to the US$7,731.2 million spent in 2022. This decrease was largely impacted by lower spending on imports of “Raw Materials/Intermediate Goods” and “Fuels and Lubricants”, which declined by 4.6 per cent and 14.6 per cent, respectively.

“The decline in expenditure on imports for 2023 followed increases for 2020 to 2022,” said STATIN.

The institute said revenues from exports for 2023 increased by 5.3 per cent when compared to US$ 1,901.4 million earned in 2022.

“This performance is a continuation of the trend since 2020,” it said.

The increase in exports for 2023 was due primarily to a 77.6 per cent increase in the exports of “Crude Materials (excl. Fuels)”. Domestic exports increased to US$1,521.9 million, 11.3 per cent above the US$1,367.4 million for 2022.

The trade deficit at the end of 2023 was down 4.1 per cent to US$5,590.3 million when compared to US$5,829.8 million in 2022.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s five main trading partners for 2023 were the United States of America (USA), China, Brazil, Japan and Colombia. Expenditure on imports from these countries fell by 2.0 per cent to US$ 4,628.6 million in 2022. This was due largely to lower imports of “Mineral Fuels”.

The top five destinations for Jamaica’s exports were the USA, Puerto Rico, Latvia, the Russian Federation and Iceland. Export revenues from these countries increased by 1.2 per cent to US$1,347.9 million due to higher exports of alumina.