Jamaica economy
Inflation reached 7.5 per cent in July, breaking the national target for a second consecutive month. The Bank has explained…
For every US dollar Jamaica earned from merchandise exports in 2025, it spent approximately US$4.55 on imports. Tourism and remittances keep the wider structure standing. But behind the attractive façade is an economy increasingly dependent on things made somewhere else.
The island is unlikely to collapse, but another 12 months of disrupted energy markets could reshape household budgets, tourism, business, construction and the property market.
From a maturing property market and a landmark Marriott investment in Montego Bay to Jamaica’s strongest Commonwealth Games performance in years and sweeping new National Security Council reforms — July 2026 has been one of the island’s more consequential months across several fronts.
Encouraging offshore signals have revived talk of a Jamaican oil future. The honest answer is that the island is a long way from any such thing, and its land should be watched regardless.
Across eleven years and seventeen IMF publications, a portrait of Jamaica emerges that is far more complex than either its critics or its cheerleaders allow. This is what the full archive actually reveals — about the economy, the property market, and the country’s future.
A complete analysis of Jamaica’s nineteen-month BOJ Payment System Data Bulletin series, June 2024 to December 2025. JAMCLEAR-RTGS volumes reflected sustained interbank activity, POS transactions grew as card adoption accelerated, and cheque usage declined structurally — together tracing the arc of Jamaica’s payment modernisation programme.
A complete analysis of Jamaica’s seventeen-month BOJ ABM Performance Bulletin series, December 2024 to April 2026. Hurricane Melissa triggered seven consecutive months of uptime non-compliance, the permanent loss of eleven Scotia Bank machines, and a 137-machine fleet refresh programme — the largest in the series. Rural uptime finally recovered above 95% in April 2026.
A complete analysis of Jamaica’s seventeen-month Bank of Jamaica Remittance Bulletin series, from December 2024 through April 2026. Fiscal 2025/26 became the first year to exceed US$3 billion in diaspora inflows, with corridor trends, regional benchmarks and housing market implications examined across the full dataset.
From a hurricane-battered island clawing its way back to a landmark lawsuit over cannabis royalties, 2026 has tested every facet of the Marley inheritance. Today, on a street named for the island he never stopped singing about, a seven-foot statue of the man is unveiled in Liverpool — and the question is not whether the music endures, but what it is being asked to carry.
Jamaica in 2026 presents a study in profound contradiction. Tourism revenues are approaching historic highs as the island cements its position as the Caribbean’s most recognised brand. The murder rate, while showing a declining trend from the peaks of the late 2010s and early 2020s, remains among the highest in the world. The reparations debate has moved from the margins of diplomatic conversation to its centre. And Jamaica’s relationship with the United States, the United Kingdom, and China is being renegotiated in real time.
Jamaica in 2026 presents a study in contradiction: record tourism revenues alongside one of the world’s highest murder rates; fiscal stability alongside persistent social inequality; growing international profile alongside the unresolved reparations debate.
In a world increasingly defined by geopolitical rivalry—between the U.S. and China, with Russia reasserting influence and tensions simmering in…
The Impact of U.S. Tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico: Implications for Jamaica’s Economy and Real Estate Sector On…
Scotia Bank has launched a 137-machine ABM fleet refresh programme as Hurricane Melissa recovery enters its seventh month. System uptime remained at 93.6% in April 2026 — below the 95% minimum for a seventh consecutive month — though rural uptime crossed above the threshold for the first time since the storm.