Caribbean inflation hit multi-decade highs in May 2022, with Jamaica above 11% CPI and construction costs up 30-50% from 2019 levels. The Fed’s aggressive rate hikes compounded affordability pressure on first-time buyers.

Oil reached $130 per barrel one month into the Russia-Ukraine war, hitting Caribbean energy budgets hard. But summer 2022 tourism bookings hit record levels as the first truly post-COVID Caribbean summer came into view.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 sent oil prices above $105 per barrel, triggering an immediate energy and food price shock across the Caribbean’s import-dependent economies while tourism bookings held firm.