JAMAICA’S agriculture sector employed approximately 197,400 people in October 2025, accounting for 14 per cent of the country’s employed labour force, even after losing 4,000 jobs over the previous year amid the fallout from Hurricane Melissa.

The figures, published in the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s (PIOJ) latest Economic and Social Survey Jamaica (ESSJ), showed that employment in the sector declined from 201,400 workers in October 2024 to 197,400 one year later.

“Of this number, 144 000 were males and 53 500 were females, compared with 148,500 males and 52,900 females in October 2024,” the PIOJ said.

“Within the overall labour force, female workers in the industry represented 8.2 per cent of all employed females, while male workers accounted for 19 per cent of all employed males,” the document further noted.

In 2025, the country’s labour force stood at 1.462 million persons of which 1.413 million were employed and 48,800 unemployed. A further 693,800 persons were classified as being outside the labour force.

The decline in agricultural employment contributed to a 2.6 per cent reduction in jobs across the goods producing industries, where employment fell to 414,100. In contrast, employment in the services industries increased by 0.5 per cent to 991,700 workers.

“The Service Industries continued to account for the majority of total employment,” the PIOJ noted.

The reduction in agricultural employment coincided with weaker activity in the final months of the year after Hurricane Melissa battered the sector in late October, causing widespread damage to crops, livestock and fisheries. Despite the setback, the sector recorded real growth of 2.9 per cent during 2025, accounting for 7.7 per cent of total real value added (RVA) for the country.

According to the annual publication, the expansion reflected favourable weather conditions during the first nine months of the year, which boosted agricultural production enough to outweigh the sharp contraction experienced after Hurricane Melissa struck on October 28, damaging mainly the western parts of the island.

Growth for the sector was supported by a 63.5 per cent increase in post-harvest activities, a 12.4 per cent rise in traditional export crops and a 5.1 per cent increase in other agricultural crops — all of which helped to offset a more than 2 per cent decline in animal farming.

“Damage and loss for the industry associated with the hurricane totalled $43.85 billion, of which $36.11 billion was attributable to ‘Agriculture and Livestock’ while $7.74 billion was related to ‘Fisheries and Aquaculture’,” the data further indicated.

The Category 5 storm also weighed on export performance, with agricultural export earnings falling to US$62 million in 2025, down from US$76.5 million in the year prior.

The PIOJ said the decline was primarily driven by lower exports of yams as crop earnings fell 31.7 per cent to US$25.3 million. Export receipts from vegetables also declined 20.9 per cent to US$0.9 million, while other root crops fell 19.2 per cent to US$4.7 million.

Earnings from other fruits and beverage crops also slipped 2.6 per cent to total US$3.3 million.

Despite higher export earnings from bananas, coffee and herbs and spices, these were not enough to offset that seen for broader declines.

As the country continues to recover from the hurricane’s devastating impacts, the PIOJ projected that the agriculture industry is expected to contract in 2026, especially as some areas of production remain suppressed.

“The hurricane caused extensive damage to crops, livestock and fisheries, disrupting production capacity and constraining output across the industry,” the institute said in the report as it noted expectations for Government recovery programmes to cushion the decline via measures aimed at mitigating the immediate impact and supporting recovery.

“Over the medium term, these initiatives are expected to contribute to the rehabilitation of affected subsectors, strengthen resilience against climatic shocks, and support the industry’s gradual return to growth,” the entity said.

The PIOJ data said that of those employed in the industry, 144,000 were men and 53,500 were women.