Higher Imports and Total Exports for January 2023

• Jamaica's expenditure on imports was valued at US$592.3Mn for January 2023, an increase of 12.2% compared to the US$528.0Mn spent during the first month of 2022. The increased spending was due mainly to higher imports of “Consumer Goods” which moved up by 21.0%, “Fuels and Lubricants” up by 15.2%, and “Capital Goods (excl. Motor Cars)” up by 21.0%.
• For the period, earnings from total exports were valued at US$185.9Mn, an increase of 52.3% when compared to the US$122.0Mn earned in January 2022. The increase in exports was due primarily to a 128.6% increase in the export of “Crude Materials (excl. Fuels)” valued at US$53.6Mn. Domestic exports in the review period amounted to US$141.0Mn, 30.7% above the US$107.9Mn recorded in January 2022. This growth was due primarily to higher exports from the Mining and Quarrying industry following the reopening of the Jamalco plant in 2022.
• The five main trading partners for January 2023 were the United States of America (USA), China, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkey. Expenditure on imports from these countries increased by 19.1% to US$403.4Mn. This increase was due mainly to the higher imports of fuel from the USA.
• The top five destinations for Jamaica’s exports were the USA, Puerto Rico, the Russian Federation, Iceland and Latvia. Exports to these countries increased by 101.3% to US$152.0Mn mainly due to higher exports of crude materials to the Russian Federation and fuel to Puerto Rico.

(Source: STATIN)