Economy
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 […]
Inflation rate at odds with real life experience
(CNS): The first quarter inflation rate for 2024 was 1.5% above the rate for the first three months of 2023 and around 0.3% higher than the rate at the end of the year, according to the Economics and Statistics Office. But with inflation running so high in the Cayman Islands over the last three years, […]
McTaggart makes pitch to voters over economy
(CNS): Ten months ahead of the expected start of the 2025 election campaign, Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart has begun campaigning in earnest based on the party’s previous time in office. In a political message, McTaggart, who was finance minister during the last PPM administration, claimed that his party had successfully managed the economy when in […]
Growth in WPs undermining economic growth
(CNS): Recent revelations from the 2023 Fall Labour Force Survey about the size of the workforce and the increase in local unemployment to over 5% from just over 3% last year while work permit numbers remain high raise questions about the health and sustainability of Cayman’s economy. Last year, the economy grew by about 4% […]
Cayman continues to import a huge volume of vehicles
(CNS): According to the unaudited Third Quarter Economic Report 2023 covering government earnings and spending up to the end of September, a significant boost to the surplus at the time came from fees on imported motor vehicles. The earnings surpassed budget expectations by $7.8 million due to the volume of vehicles being imported. While the […]
Bryan challenges report on low value of Cayman tourism
(CNS): Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan has criticised a report by regional economist Marla Dukharan on the Cayman Islands’ economic fortunes in which she found that the tourism sector contributes a relatively small amount to the economy. Challenging the narrative that tourism is a twin pillar alongside financial services, Dukharan said that Cayman is almost entirely […]
Cayman’s GDP grew by 3.6% in the first half of 2023
(CNS): According to the Cayman Islands Semi-Annual Economic Report 2023 by the Economics and Statistics Office, the gross domestic product grew by an estimated 3.6% in the first half of last year. However, with inflation running at around 5.3% during the same six-month period, few people benefitted from the expanding economy. The weighted average lending […]
Inflation begins to slow but averaged 3.8% in 2023
(CNS): The cost of living rose by an average of 3.8% last year compared with 2022, the Economics and Statistics Office confirmed after releasing its Consumer Price Index Report for 2023 this week. While inflation slowed last year, particularly during the last quarter, the rise in the CPI followed the 9.5% average increase during the […]
Data suggests Cayman can sustain $10 minimum wage
(CNS): Pressure from the business community led the Minimum Wage Advisory Committee (MWAC) to recommend an increase to the national basic pay of just CI$2.75 per hour, rising from the current meagre CI$6 to $8.75 per hour, even though their research and data from the Economics and Statistics Office indicated that businesses could manage an […]
Inflation slowing down but prices still climbing
(CNS): The price of food, rent, utilities and clothes all increased during the second quarter of this year. The local inflation rate is still rising, even though it has slowed down to 4.1% from its peak of over 12% in the summer of 2022. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) between March and June was 130.4, […]
Premier admits Cayman’s economic success gap widening
(CNS): The Cayman Islands economy is doing well with GDP growth at 3.7% and estimated at US$70,790 per capita, the creation of over 8,900 jobs post-pandemic, an unemployment rate down to 3.6% among local people, a human development index of 0.877 and a $40million surplus for public finances. Nevertheless, there are a number of significant […]
