the country earned during the comparable period in 2023. This is according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), in its latest international trade merchandise bulletin released on Wednesday. “This decline was primarily due to a 63.2 per cent decrease in the value of re-exports, which was valued at US$168.0 million during the review period,” said STATIN.

Of note is that on the converse, domestic exports increased by 9.2 per cent to US$ 1,534.5 million, due to a 30.5 per cent rise in exports from the mining and quarrying industry during the period. “The main contributor to this increase was a 41.2 per cent rise in alumina earnings, which moved to US$607.2 million from US$430.1 million in 2023,” STATIN said.

Meanwhile, the value of imports declined by 4.0 per cent during the 11-month period, when compared to the US$6,982.0 million spent in the comparable period in 2023.

“This decrease was attributable to lower imports of raw materials/intermediate goods and fuels and lubricant, which fell by 10.5 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively,” said the institute. It shared that Jamaica’s total spending on imports was valued at US$6,700.9 million during the period, while earnings from total exports were valued at US$1,702.4 million.

Jamaica imported goods mainly from the United States of America (USA), China, Brazil, Japan and Colombia during the period under review.Expenditure on imports from these countries fell by 5.6 per cent to US$4,042.1 million, compared to US$4,282.1 million recorded for the corresponding 2023 period. (Jamaica Observer)