The preliminary estimates are based on information gleaned from customs duty forms from airports and shipping companies. A deficit is reflected when the value of imports outstrip the worth of exports.
The deficit for 2005 was $2.11 billion, the highest over a five-year period, according to the departmentﾒs figures. The 2002 deficit in merchandise trade, $1.4 billion, was the lowest deficit recorded for the period of 2001 to 2005, while the 2003 deficit of $1.5 billion was the second lowest for the same period.
The newly released statistics also showed that the value of imports totalled $2.5 billion for 2005, which is a 30% increase over the 2004 total of $1.9 billion.
According to the preliminary figures for last year, The Bahamas exported only $293 million worth of goods primarily comprised of chemicals like polystyrene and other plastic materials and food and live animals, inclusive of crawfish, salt and rum.
“Most of these exports [went to the] U.S with the exception [of] crawfish where [a significant amount] went to France,” explained Nerissa Gibson, assistant director of the Department of Statistics.
Ms. Gibson also noted that in order to minimize the trade deficit, The Bahamas would simply have to export more goods to other countries.
She also acknowledged the devastation that factors like the citrus canker on Abacoﾒs crops and severe weather systems have had on the level of exports.
“Unless we find some more things to grow or more industries coming in, thatﾒs what [the deficit] will look like,” Ms. Gibson warned.
Within the category of mineral fuels, which accounted for 20% of the overall import value or $508 million, oil primarily drove the increase, according to officials who explained that it was not so much a hike in quantity as it was a rise in oil prices.
“Machinery and transportation and the fuel that would mobilize that transportation are the things that would count for almost half of our import bill as a country,” Ms. Gibson said.
Manufactured goods like metal, steel, and other construction materials accounted for $400 million or 15% of the total import bill. In the food and live animals category the value was $330 million or 13% of total imports.
Leona Wilson, director in charge of Economics at the department, explained that The Bahamas may be an importer of goods and services, but the countryﾒs main industry makes it a major exporter.
“Tourism is a means of exports because we are exporting services,” she said. “[These figures] are different because it is based on merchandise and commodities.”
The newly released figures also showed that the U.S. remained The Bahamasﾒ main trading partner, to which 80% of the exports were sent last year. The Bahamas imported 66% of its goods from that market.
Food accounted for $2.1 million worth of imports from the U.S. market and machinery and mechanical appliances amounted to $1.4 million for 2005.
In addition, mineral oils and by products amounted to $2.4 million, artworks and precious antiques amounted to $97.9 million and vehicles accounted for $117.2 million in imports.
According to Ms. Gibson, the country has also done a significant amount of trade with countries in the European Union [United Kingdom, France and Germany], Curacao, Puerto Rico, and Japan.
The figures also showed that the U.S. still dominates when it comes to the import market for both new and used cars.
The figures for automobiles from the United States went from $140 million in 2004 to $152 million in 2005, which represented a 9.5% increase.
By: Kendea Jones, The Bahama Journal
