Caribbean economic growth

IDB and CDB commit over US$400M to Caribbean infrastructure and housing as post-Hurricane Fiona reconstruction accelerates and Suriname’s IMF programme reaches a key milestone.

Trinidad Carnival 2023 returns in full force with 40,000 international visitors as Caribbean tourism surpasses pre-pandemic benchmarks across Jamaica, Barbados, St Lucia and the wider region.

A comprehensive review of 2022’s defining events for Caribbean property and investment: the Russia-Ukraine inflation shock, Hurricane Fiona, tourism’s dramatic recovery and Guyana’s oil boom, with a 2023 outlook.

Caribbean tourism enters the 2022 holiday season at record booking pace as Jamaica, Barbados and Dominican Republic report peak-season demand while post-Hurricane Fiona reconstruction gains ground.

Six weeks after Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean property insurance market faces 20–35% premium increases as reconstruction needs mount and CCRIF delivers rapid payouts.

Hurricane Fiona devastates Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic’s southwest as Caribbean energy costs hit record highs driven by the Russia-Ukraine war, and construction costs reach 40% above 2020 baselines.

Caribbean construction costs hit a 40-year high at 30–50% above 2020 baselines while diaspora remittances reach record levels and Guyana’s real estate market surges 60% on oil sector demand.

Jamaica breaks all-time visitor records in July 2022 as Barbados villa rates hit 45% above 2019 levels, Cayman luxury inventory hits historic lows and the Caribbean’s post-COVID tourism boom drives property to new peaks.

Summer 2022 delivered the Caribbean’s first truly post-COVID tourism season, with Jamaica setting arrival records, DR welcoming 700k+ visitors in June, and short-term rental rates running 25-40% above 2019 levels across the region.

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.

Caribbean economies post above-forecast GDP growth as tourism recovery accelerates, but Russia-Ukraine commodity prices strain budgets. Barbados completes a successful IMF programme review as Guyana’s oil expansion advances.

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.

The Omicron wave disrupted Caribbean tourism in January 2022, but open-border policies held firm. The Bank of Jamaica raised its policy rate and Russia-Ukraine tensions introduced a new commodity price risk.

A comprehensive review of the Caribbean property and investment landscape in 2021 — tourism recovery, Barbados republic, Guyana oil revenues — and an outlook for 2022 as Omicron clouds the horizon.