August 29, 2007

The May 2007 External Trade Bulletin released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica reveals that Jamaica’s expenditure on imports of goods during the period January to May 2007 amounted to US$2,528.7 million. This represented an increase of US$279.6 million or 12.4 per cent over the amount recorded for the same period of 2006.Total goods exported during this period were valued at US$881.3 million, an increase of US$39.3 million or 4.7 per cent. The trade deficit for the five month period under review, stood at US$1,647.3 million, an increase of US$240.3 million or 17.1 per cent.

The major commodity groups imported during this period were: “Mineral Fuels, etcetera” valued at US$685.9 million, “Machinery and Transport Equipment” US$545.6 million, “Chemicals” US$315.2 million, “Manufactured Goods” US$317.1 million and “Food” worth US$311.7 million. Together, these commodities accounted for 86.0 per cent of Jamaica’s total imports.

Domestic Exports for the period were valued at US$861.8 million or US$ 35.2 million above the comparable period of 2006. Re-exports amounted to US$19.5 million with “Machinery and Transport Equipment” accounting for US$13.0 million.

Traditional domestic export for the review period amounted to US$575.0 million, declining by US$17.8 million or 3.0 per cent when compared to the similar 2006 period. Exports of non-traditional items earned US$286.8 million, increasing by US$53.0 million or 22.7 per cent.

The may April 2007 External Trade Bulletin outlines additional information and may be obtained at our Distribution Office, Cecelio Avenue Kingston 10