Cayman Islands imports grow by nearly 16%
(CNS): Cayman was on something of a spending spree last year, importing a record amount of goods, with the total value brought into the islands increasing by 15.7% to reach CI$1,058.6 million, compared to the $914.8 million worth of imports in 2017. The growth was reported in the latest foreign trade statistics produced by the Economics and Statistics Office, and was due to the quantity of non-oil products, with everything increasing, from clothes and food to camera equipment and furniture.
The value of fuel imports rose by 21.5%, but this was largely down to the increase in the price, as the actual quantities fell slightly. The amount of goods imported is the highest since 2005, when a significant amount of goods were imported as a result of the post-Hurricane Ivan rebuild.
While there was an increase in the importation of fruit and vegetables as well as water, this healthy trend was countered by the importation of cigarettes, which grew by more than 50% at a value of over CI$5 million. Wine imports also grew by nearly 42%.
As always, the bulk of goods purchased last year (more than 81%) came from the United States, but as an overall share of imports it declined marginally with imports from Jamaica, Mexico and the UK. An increase in imports from Switzerland as a result of an increase in the number of watches retailers imported.
Despite recent concerns about the number of cars on Cayman roads, the ESO report suggested that the value ($44 million) and quantity of passenger vehicles fell slightly in 2018 compared to 2017, down by 11.5%. “This was driven primarily by the decrease in both the quantity and the average value of vehicles imported,” the report stated.
However, this contrasts with figures from the customs department that the premier revealed in the Legislative Assembly earlier this month, which indicated there were around 150 more vehicles imported in 2018 than in 2017.
Population here is at least 80,000 and then there are the government figures.
More imports year-on-year (we assume) but still no published numbers on the cargo port capacity to justify needing a new one. Something fishy there.
Put that importation growth against the population growth and see what you have .
Increase in imports, would indicate that it is cheaper to import items then to buy locally, consumers are becoming more educated and not willing to pay 3-4 times that amount when they can import the same items for less. With the cost of living where it is you can’t blame people for trying to save.
?? How do you figure it means personal importing?
Because so many of us do it.
But will that somehow increase the overall import numbers?
“While there was an increase in the importation of fruit and vegetables as well as water, this healthy trend was…”
Imported fruit and vegetables are not healthy. They are sprayed with so many pesticides and preservatives for export and to prolong shelf life, that there is little goodness in them once they reach the stores. I have started growing my own, and anyone in farming with sufficient financing ought to invest in some hurricane-proof greenhouses like these:
http://www.alquimirenewables.com/
Grow your own Cayman!
Price of water here not sure that’s a viable option
2 cents a gallon from the tap, no plastic bottle to put into the dump required.
Or you can get a litre for maybe $1.00 at best, and that’s likely just less regulated, bottled tap water from the USA.
Obviously you do not pay a monthly water bill. Your personal hydration is not the only thing water is needed for.
My water bill is like 50 bucks max per month. Stop taking half hour long showers.
I am the OP. We save our rainwater barely need to use tap for gardening. Also, have solar panels and don’t pay for electricity. In fact, we get paid for putting it back into the system. We live frugally and do without luxuries. Life is so much more affordable and hard times more bearable when you do this. Worth every cent spent setting it up – now saving literally $100s a month compared to before. Homegrown veg full of goodness, much tastier and cheaper than the stuff in the supermarket, and I enjoy growing it. We are only trying to be more self-sufficient, and I am only suggesting that more people give it a try.
$5 million worth of legal nicotine laced tobacco yet we’re still locking up Caymanians for growing organic medical cannabis.
Disgusting how prevalent the 1960s mentality is here.
You can also get locked up for running a moonshine still and selling the alcohol.
What your point? Anyone should do whatever they want irrespective of laws and licensing?
Nope, I respect the law. Let me reword it for you.
If our imported alcohol and tobacco wasn’t legal and regulated, Cayman would not become a sober nation. Rather, in a week hundreds would be setting up backyard alcohol distilleries and black market tobacco farms.
Locking up Caymanians for growing a medically recognized plant is idiotic, because adults will grow it regardless. They either smuggle it, grow it in the bush, or set up indoor grows.
Fighting Cannabis as if it’s more harmful than alcohol or tobacco is a huge double standard, waste of money and waste of police resources. That’s my point.
The truth is, it’s really not that easy to generalize all weed as being benign or an equivalent to cigarettes or alcohol. Depends on person and the weed. Some “high” sativas have similar stimulant power to a line of cocaine. Some “stoner” Indicas would not be safe to drive or operate machinery. Other hybrids people can go to work all day and nobody would be the wiser.
Tried many strains of sativa.. No more stimulating than a cup of coffee.
Talking out your arse
Be honest. You have any personal experience with it?
“have similar stimulant power to a line of cocaine.”
Err no, weed does not have that effect, unless of course its laced with cocaine.
… and how do you ensure it’s not laced or has pesticides?
Grow your own medicine. Oh wait lol.
A lot of that goes right back out via the duty free airport shops
Still far under capacity!
Just another reason we sorely need an upgrade to our out dates and undersized dock
Trump tactics, say it often enough and the not so smart people will believe it, fact or fiction it doesn’t matter. Having said that, looking at the English, I wonder if you are from here at all?
Right if you say enough times Hillary had a 98.1 percent change of winning, it would certainly happen if enough stupid people believed it.
Great intelligent point.
Right if you say enough times Hillary won the popular vote by 3 million votes, stupid people will still not believe it.
An intelligent point.
We believe it, we just don’t care. She could have won 100% of the vote in California and New York and the electoral count would have been the same. The system is like this on purpose.
So is Gerrymandering bucko.
Has nothing to do with Trump. I agree, we need a better cargo port. The problem is the current design is not great. The jets for the cruise ships to come right into town is going to be an environmental disaster.
Is there a corresponding growth of the Dump’s volume?
Everything that doesn’t blow into the ocean or end up at Barkers. It’s simple physics. See Dart/styrofoam
Unfortunately, most people still don’t understand this concept, or what it means to humans lease on the earth.
Yes. I am a 30 year old Caymanian, I did not know more than the vague location of the dump until a couple of years ago. Now I can see the top of it from several angles, over the treesl
not surprised, importing goods….cuts out the the 100% mark up by rip-off local merchants….
They are the ones importing. Get a clue.
Not totally true..
My fuzzy logic meter says over 50%, that close enough to TRUE for me.
100? Try 250-300%
Exactly. If I can import — let’s say shoes — including the shipping and duty and still save $50, there is something terribly wrong and crooked about the local markup.
I spend what I can here at home, but I will overpay so much. When I bought my car from Japan, my end cost was $5500. Same car was on “sale” two places here, one for $9500 and the other for $11,000. I would have paid $6500 maybe, but not more that that.
I would love to spend every dollar here at home.