December 19, 2007

The August 2007 External Trade Bulletin released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica reveals that Jamaica’s expenditure on imports for the period January to August 2007 amounted to US$4,116.2 million. This represented an increase of US$330.3 million or 8.7 percent over the amount recorded for the comparable period of 2006. Total exports were valued at US$1,511.9 million increasing by US$172.8 million or 12.9 per cent .The trade deficit for the eight months ending August 2007 stood at US$2,604.4 million, US$157.5 million or 6.4 per cent above the comparable period.

During the review period “Mineral Fuels, etcetera” were valued at US$1,207.5 million and accounted for 29.3 per cent of Jamaica’s import bill. Other major import commodity groups included “Machinery and Transport Equipment” which was valued at US$859.2 million, “Chemicals” US$515.2 million, “Manufactured Goods” US$497.9 million and “Food” US$462.8 million.

Domestic exports for the period increased by US$161.4 million or 12.3 per cent to US$1,478.1 million when compared to the similar period of 2006. Re-exports amounted to US$33.8 million, with “Machinery & Transport Equipment” accounting for US$22.0 million.

Traditional domestic were valued at US$1,050.2 million. This represented an increase of US$133.3 million or 14.5 per cent. Exports of non-traditional items amounted to US$427.9 million, increasing by US$28.1 million or 7.0 per cent.

The August 2007 External Trade Bulletin outlines additional information and may be obtained from the Distribution office of the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, 7 Cecelio Ave, Kingston 10.