Non-oil imports grow 3.6% to over $1.31 billion

(CNS): The total value of goods imported into the Cayman Islands last year was $1.53 billion, an increase of 2% over the previous year, according to the Foreign Trade Report 2023 produced by the Economics and Statistics Office. The value of non-petroleum products grew by 3.6% from 2022 to over $1.31 billion, while the value of petroleum and petroleum-related imports fell by 7.1% to $215.2 million. The ESO pointed out that this decrease was driven by lower average prices of fuel imported in 2023. It did not necessarily reflect a drop in quantity.

The value of food and animal imports, including vegetables and fruit, meat and meat preparations, dairy products and eggs, surged by 8.6 %, while the value of miscellaneous manufactured articles grew by 6.9%. The value of machinery and transport goods increased by 5.7%, which the ESO said reflected “increased imports of power-generating machinery, general industrial machinery and equipment, and electrical machinery and equipment”.

The value of beverages and tobacco decreased by 3.8%, which the ESO said was due to a drop in the quantity of some beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, coming into the country. There was also a reduction in some manufactured goods.

See the Cayman Islands’ Annual Foreign Trade Statistics Report 2023 here.