Jamaica GDP Contracts for 2nd Quarter

The economy of Jamaica contracted by 0.8% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, following a revised decline of 3.3% in the previous quarter.

This marks the first back-to-back quarterly contractions since the pandemic, driven by sharp declines in several sectors, including agriculture, forestry, and fishing (-10.6% vs.

-12.5% in Q3), mining and quarrying (-2.3% vs.

-17.4%), utilities (-1.4% vs.

-5.8%), hotels and restaurants (-0.3% vs.

-4.9%), and manufacturing (-0.5% vs.

-4.0%).

Meanwhile, construction continued to decline but at a slower pace (-2.7% vs.

-3.3%), while wholesale and retail trade rebounded slightly (0.2% vs.

-3.0%).

On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the Jamaican economy expanded by 1.4% in Q4, rebounding from the 1.5% downturn from Q3.