GDP grows by 4.2%, nears CI$71k per capita in 2023
(CNS): The Cayman Islands’ real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by an estimated rate of 4.2% last year, a slight decline from the growth of 5.2% in 2022. The nominal GDP per capita income was estimated at $70,985 for 2023 even though, according to the last Labour Force Survey, well over 60% of the working population here earns less than that per annum, compounding the cost of living crisis for most people.
As the economy grows, it is increasingly benefiting only the wealthy, and in 2023, ordinary people dealt with crippling inflation at over 3.8% following 2022, which had seen the cost of living soar by 9.5%.
While the latest numbers from the Economics and Statistics Office show an ever-expanding economy in the Cayman Islands, wealth is increasingly concentrated in the top percentile of earners, and the trickle-down economic policy pursued by successive governments is no longer helping local families.
Growth was led in part by the tourism sector, as hotels and restaurants grew. However, the wages of those working in hospitality remain low as the government fails to address the minimum wage. The cost of utilities also increased economic activity, which, alongside the cost of food and housing, fuelled the continued inflation pressures on the working and middle classes alike.
Total employment increased by 3.8% to 58,504 in 2023, but this lagged behind the expansion in the labour force, which resulted in the unemployment rate among Caymanians rising to 5%, the ESO noted in the report. As the local population continued to grow and visitor numbers increased last year, electricity consumption also rose by 7.8%, while water consumption rose by almost 12%.
The development and construction sector also had a very good year, with the value of project approvals and certificates of occupancy in Grand Cayman rising by 27% and 13.6%, respectively, compared to 2022. However, building permits declined by 10.7%, which reflects the number of projects completed in the year and has little bearing on the state of the market.
While real estate activity contracted, with the total value of property transfers falling by 8.9%, that still represented a whopping $1,155.6 million in sales. GDP is also projected to expand in 2024 by 2.8%, primarily due to the expected growth in tourism and auxiliary sectors.
External pressures are expected to cause the inflation rate to be 2.1%, and the overall unemployment rate is projected to be 2.9%.
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Trickle down economics are fairy tales
Ken Dart’s income will screw the average enormously.
I wonder how accurate this ESO stuff is. None of their data is audited and their population just want to the forms done an out of the way.
Ken Dart ain’t fillin out ESO survey
3.8% inflation? LOL.
Bananas at Foster’s went from $.99 per pound to $1.09 per pound. That is 10% inflation for a food staple.
Figures don’t lie. Liars figure.
If you are worried about the price of Bananas… you’re bananas! And BTW, if the pre-pandemic price went up 10% to today, that is a 2.5% increase per year (about). Folks hope for a 2-3% COL annual increase, so after 5 years the price should go up 10%.
Impressive that you are keeping accurate records on the historical price of bananas. Hats off to you.
You could have picked better products to complain about than a .10 increase in bananas. Unless you fill your gas tank or cool your house with … bananas.
Many years of mismanagement is our downfall. No clear national plan developed so none followed either.
If your on minimum wage you can earn %52,400, if you work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year
The average person probably doesn’t even make 1/2 of that.
Per capita INCOME….. hmmmm. I must be living in the wrong part of Cayman, because local income here isn’t anywhere NEAR $71K per person — and that’s supposed to be an average.
It’s an average. Whilst I don’t expect that the likes of Ken Dart declares his income to the ESO, when you have a disproportionately large number of very high earning people in the financial services sector, the average is massively skewed. ESO must have income statistics – publishing those, and the distribution, would be far more informative. Which is why you will never see it!
That is why we need more Caymanians to get good jobs in financial services. You don’t have to be a lawyer or an accountant, there are many other good jobs – administrator, trust officer, marketers and content creators, database managers, a raft of IT jobs, HR, learning development…
Good jobs are here – educate Caymanians and train them for these jobs.
the article did mention that wealth was disproportionate and ‘concentrated in the top percentile of earners’…..basic math should tell you that the average will be skewed upwards
My question is GDP grows for Who ? These wonderful headlines does not equate or benefit Caymanians at all. 40k work permit holders are overjoyed though ?
GDP is the annualized change in the inflation-adjusted value of all goods and services produced by an economy.
Your Who is the economy, the Cayman Islands economy.