Jamaica’s Five-to-One Trade Gap Continues in 2026

Jamaica’s dependence on imported goods has continued into 2026, with the country importing almost five dollars’ worth of merchandise for every dollar earned from exports during the first five months of the year.

New figures from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica show that imports reached US$3.22 billion between January and May, compared with export earnings of just US$674.7 million. That left Jamaica with a merchandise trade deficit of approximately US$2.54 billion.

The figures update a concern Jamaica Homes examined earlier this month, when full-year data for 2025 revealed a similarly wide divide between what the country bought from abroad and what it sold overseas.

Imports increased by 1.8 per cent compared with the same period in 2025, driven partly by higher spending on raw materials, capital goods and transport equipment. Exports, however, fell by 12.5 per cent, largely because of a sharp decline in earnings from crude materials.

The United States, China, Japan, Colombia and Brazil were Jamaica’s largest sources of imported goods. Together, they supplied goods worth US$2.15 billion. The main export destinations were the United States, Russia, the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom.

For households and the property sector, the imbalance matters. Jamaica continues to import much of the fuel, machinery, food and construction material used across the economy. Shipping charges and movements in the Jamaican dollar can therefore feed directly into supermarket prices, building costs and the price of maintaining a home.

This latest release does not present a new problem. It confirms that the five-to-one trade gap identified in the 2025 figures has followed Jamaica into 2026.

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