Inflation report reflects last year’s cost of living pain
(CNS): The Economics and Statistics Office has released the inflation report for the third quarter of 2024, which revealed that the economic pressure Cayman Islands residents were feeling last year continues to be one of the biggest problems the next government will need to tackle. At the end of September, after several years of constantly rising prices, inflation spiked again by 4.1%, eating into already fully stretched household budgets.
According to the report, In September 2024, the consumer price Iindex (CPI) was 135.7, up 4.1% over the same point in 2023 and up 2.2% from the midway point of 2024, pushing the average inflation rate for the first nine months of the year to 2.4% after a decline in the cost of living during the first six months.
Nine out of the twelve divisions recorded higher price indices. School fee increases drove education costs up by almost 10%, while communication, telephone and internet services as well as equipment were up nearly 9%, and another hike of 5% for housing and utility costs pushed up the inflation rate when compared to the previous year.
The report makes for painful reading since wages have not only failed to keep pace with inflation, they have declined in real terms as the endless flow of imported cheap and exploited labour pushes pay downwards for ordinary workers.
The cost of healthcare, which is particularly difficult for elderly members of the community on inadequate fixed-income pensions, was another area that saw a significant spike. While costs overall increase by around 4.2%, the 9.7% rise in the average price of pharmaceuticals is particularly challenging for elderly residents. A more than 5% spike in the cost of dentistry will hit families hard as as many insurance policies do not cover dental work.
A 10% increase in the cost of water and another 7.6% hike in rents pushed the overall increase in housing and utilities to more than 5% year on year, adding to the community’s cost of living woes.
When it comes to the monthly grocery shop, the pain at the cash register is only getting worse. By the end of the third quarter last year, the overall food basket was up by 2.2%, but that disguises the real suffering.
Dairy produce spiked again by 8.3% and fruit and seafood were up by almost 5%. While tea, coffee and cocoa (2.1%) and oils and fats declined slightly, this followed a massive spike in prices of these goods, which is likely to happen again given the shortages of olives in Europe and coffee in Latin America in particular.
According to the ESO’s Semi-Annual Economic Report, the economy grew by 3.2% in the first six months of 2024. Although this increase in gross domestic product may look good on paper for businesses, it is not helping ordinary people and is further fueling the painful cost of living.
While visitors are driving profits for utility companies, hotels and restaurants, the trickle-down effect is barely touching the sides for working people. The financing and insurance services sector, the largest contributor to GDP, continued to grow, as did the government’s earnings, but very little of the benefit of economic growth is being felt by regular families who have endured more than five years of crippling inflation.
See all the ESO reports on the website here.
- Fascinated 00%
- Happy 1165%
- Sad 00%
- Angry 529%
- Bored 16%
- Afraid 00%
Gouging (and price-fixing?) by businesses on the island.
what do you expect…90% of gig employees do not even understand the concept of inflation or basic percentages for that reason.
its been tax and spend economics for many generations in cayman.
been here 30 years and i have not heard of one single proposal to seriously tackle cost of living and doing business.
free money making solutions:
allow sunday trading
bring in weed tourism(to protect the fine caymanian christian ‘heritage’, only tourists and expats are allowed purchase)
bring in casinos at top hotels (to protect the fine caymanian christian ‘heritage’. only tourists and expats are allowed)
treble all traffic fines
treble duty on cigarettes
implement any recommendation of miller-shaw or e&y reports.
sell loss making cayman airways
sell loss making turtle farm
sell goab
double stamp duty for non-resident property purchasers
End the dartboard Free Duty Concessions. That will balance the budget
How many more hotels will he build for Free!
concessions create long and short term revenue. think harder.
Please do something about the sky high house insurance price gouging racket that’s happening, unabated.
its international issue and it is the market…if you think it is a scam …set up your own insurance company to make ‘millions’
The Cayman Islands have few Caymanian families in control of food supply, hardware and electricity, plus an adopted billionaire controlling everything else. Healthcare is becoming a joint Indian-Caymanian monopoly
too. Competition is not allowed, and prices are set by the monopolists. Keep restricting business licenses to Caymanians and prices will go up forever.
Food. Food is completely out of control. Let’s ditch Fleiachmans in Miami and look to Central America.
its been done…you can beat the prices in the states and its connectivity to cayman. think smarter.
I continue to read the CNS but I had to leave 6 months ago. My pension was just about enough to cover my health insurance , co-pay, deductible and medications. That’s it. Nothing left for rent, food, transport, utilities etc. My savings were nearly all gone and all I had left was just about enough for a plane ticket out. Broke my heart to leave my home, family and friends, but we work our whole lives waiting for retirement, and when it comes, all it brings is poverty.
Where did you go? Asking for a friend.
Welcome to Hell
While I feel your pain as I share it also, never EVER consider these three islands to be “hell”. I live in the Sister Islands, and while I consider a trip to Grand Cayman to be a punishment rather than the joy it once was, I would guess you don’t know what “hell” is. I wish I could magically whisk people like you to some of the shitholes I’ve been in. You would kiss the ground upon returning home.
Do we have lots of problems?? Yes!!! Are those problems terminal? We’ll see. In the meantime, try to be a tad happy that you live here.
Nothing being done by our government to get the cost of living down. Sad times.
Government doesn’t care, they just give themselves and civil servants cost of living pay raises and bonuses.
Perhaps a word with wannabe MPs to see if any of Them have any desire to help.
You are obviously not familiar with how the wishing well works?!?!
What do you suggest? For example, duty reduction on what goods? What services to reduce to cover the less govt revenue?
Don’t just moan.
How about at least slowing down on the pissing away of money? How about controlling capital projects? How about putting money into the people in line with government pay increases?
Do you see finally why the government is pushing so hard on the cruise port and who it benefits? It sure isn’t the average citizen. They would shovel megaships in here to the absolute devastation of Grand Cayman for more dollars to spend.
The $8million in fees to foreign consultants and $200Million planned woke prison should be cancelled and the funds used to start a fund to help insurance costs or reduce healthcare.
Well lets cut the pay and expenses of the MPs for a start! Best paid civil servants on the planet bar none. But then who would put themselves forward for the role? The same greedy sods who do it just now is the answer. A never ending array of incompetence, greed, nepotism and nest lining. General/Field Marshal/Admiral/Squadron Leader Idi Amin Dada (deceased) salutes your indefatigability and sleaze.
Our COL is intrinsically linked to that of the U.S., and the UK. Awkward having to root for Trump, isn’t it?
Trump has increased inflation due to Tariffs, although he probably blames Obama or Clinton
Don’t worry though: just vote for PPM in the next election so they can give tens of millions in unaccounted-for duty concessions/waivers to rich foreign developers like they did last time they were in power. That should definitely fix things right up, right?
(For those not in the know: Roy McTaggart, minister of finance at the time under the PPM government, stood up in front of the PAC and outright stated that he had no idea how many tens of millions of dollars they gave away to foreign developers.)