The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS’ trade deficit for the 2022 fourth quarter expanded by almost 22 percent or $164m year-over-year compared to the prior year as goods imports surged while exports contracted.

The latest trade report unveiled by the Bahamas National Statistical Institute, which only measures this nation’s trade in physical goods, revealed that total imports for the three months to end-December 2022 rose by 16 percent or some $148m year-over-year to hit $1.074bn. This compared to $924.897m for the 2021 fourth quarter, when the economy was still recovering from COVID-19 and associated restrictions.

Meanwhile, The Bahamas’ good exports fell by 9.3 percent or just over $15.7m year-over-year, dropping to $155.201m from $171.02m in 2021. This reduction, combined with the increase in imports, produced a deterioration in The Bahamas’ balance of trade. The deficit, measuring by how much goods imports exceeded exports, increased to $918.448m for the final quarter of 2022 compared to $753.877m a year earlier.

This means that The Bahamas is having to use an ever-increasing amount of its foreign currency earnings, principally earned by services exports such as tourism and financial services, to acquire the imports that its citizens need for daily consumption.

“Data on merchandise trade for the 2022 fourth quarter shows that the value of commodities imported into The Bahamas totaled $1.074bn, resulting in an increase of 16 percent when compared with the same period last year,” the Institute’s quarterly trade report said.

“The major groups of merchandise were ‘machinery and transport equipment’, which totalled $203m; ‘mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials’ at $190m, and ‘food and live animals’, which totalled $183m. The combined value of these categories represented 54 percent of total imports.”

The report added: “Other categories that contributed to total imports were ‘miscellaneous manufactured articles’, which accounted for $173m; ‘manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials’ valued at $143m; and ‘chemicals’ at $82m. These groups together represented 37 percent of total imports.

“Categories that showed significant increases when compared to the same quarter last year were ‘machinery and transport equipment’, ‘miscellaneous manufactured articles’ and ‘beverages and tobacco’, which increased by 46 percent, 43 percent and 25 percent, respectively.”

As for exports, the Institute’s report said: “As it relates to total exports for the 2022 fourth quarter, data shows that the value of commodities exported (domestic and re-exported) from The Bahamas totaled $155m, resulting in an decrease of 9 percent when compared with the same period last year.

“The categories that contributed the largest proportion to the exports were ‘mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials’, which totalled $45m; ‘food and live animals’ at $34m; and ‘miscellaneous manufactured articles’ at $28m representing 69 percent of total exports.

“Categories that showed significant increases were ‘crude minerals, inedible except fuels’, and ‘beverages and tobacco’, which increased by 190 percent and 51 percent, respectively, when compared to the same quarter last year,” the report added.

“The groups that decreased in value when compared to the same period last year were ‘machinery and transport equipment, and ‘food and live animals’. which declined by 62 percent and 45 percent, respectively.”