| Authored by: | Bahamas National Statistical Institute |
| Source: | Bahamas National Statistical Institute |
| Date: | August 25, 2022 |
The Bahamas National Statistical Institute is pleased to announce the release of its 2021 Foreign Trade figures. This report presents data on the volume and nature of trade between The Bahamas and its trading partners.
Annual Trade Highlights 2020/2021
Imports
Estimates on external or foreign trade show that during the year 2021 the value of commodities imported into The Bahamas totaled some $3.5 billion dollars resulting in a 57.9% increase over 2020s’ total of $2.2 billion.
Mineral Fuels the largest contributor to imports, totalled some $658 million (or 19% of all imports). This was followed closely by the category of Food and live Animals which accounted for 18% or $641 million.
Other categories that contributed significantly to total imports were Machinery and Transport Equipment which accounted for nearly $631 million (18% of total imports) and Manufactured Goods which accounted for almost $480 million nearly 14% of total imports.
Merchandise Balance of Trade (B$ ‘000)
|
Account |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
EXPORTS |
473,335 | 524,223 | 537,270 | 377,576 | 543,424 |
|
IMPORTS |
3,477,595 | 3,524,079 | 3,320,503 | 2,205,287 | 3,482,606 |
|
BALANCE |
-3,004,260 | -2,999,857 | -2,783,232 | -1,827,712 | -2,939,182 |
Exports
Total exports (domestic and re-exports) for 2021 totaled $543.4 million. Domestic exports ($269.2 million) accounted for 49.5% of total exports while re-exports ($274.2 million) accounted for 50.4%. The major categories of domestic exports consisted mainly of Food and Live Animals which accounted for 21.3% of total exports and Chemical (22.5% of total domestic export).
Mineral Fuels ($184.6 million) and Machinery and Transport Equipment ($43.3 million) together represented 83% of re-exports accounting for 67.3% and 15.8% respectively.
Main Trading Partners
The United States maintained its position as The Bahamas’ number one trading partner. While The Bahamas did a significant amount of trade with China, Canada, Turks & Caicos and Japan, the United States still represented 84.5% of total imports and about 75.8 % of exports.
The Bahamas’ Main Trading Partners
|
Country |
2020 (B$) |
2021 (B$) |
||||
| Imports | Exports | Balance | Imports | Exports | Balance | |
|
United States |
$1,754,809,853 | $291,086,574 | -1,463,723,279 | $2,941,183,943 | $411,740,555 | -2,529,443,388 |
|
China |
$34,023,482 | $66,213 | -33,957,269 | $49,436,667 | $200,412 | -49,236,255 |
|
Canada |
$51,011,466 | $1,153,018 | -49,858,448 | $36,892,379 | $341,534 | -36,550,845 |
|
Turks & Caicos |
$50,519,532 | $13,137,142 | -37,382,390 | $31,486,546 | $8,481,338 | -23,005,208 |
|
Japan |
$21,871,202 | $485,909 | -21,385,293 | $27,142,441 | $10,109 | -27,132,332 |
|
United Kingdom |
$17,665,413 | $2,875,541 | -14,789,872 | $24,134,386 | $20,756,459 | -3,377,927 |
|
Panama |
$15,160,920 | $36,064 | -15,124,856 | $23,628,993 | $473,550 | -23,155,443 |
Data Availability
Further details of the 2021 Foreign Trade Annual Report can be found on the Department’s website at “statistics.bahamas.gov.bs” or at BNSI’s Head Office at Bellagio Plaza, Madiera St, or by clicking here.
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