International trade for Jamaica and the Virgin Islands
The main countries importing goods from Jamaica include the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Romania, and Finland. The United States is the largest consumer of goods from Jamaica as it accounts for 41.84% of the country’s total export whereas the Netherlands accounts for 8.34%. The United Kingdom accounts for 9.28% whereas Canada accounts for 11.02% of Jamaica’s total export. Russia accounts for 5.61% while France accounts for 5.83%. Germany accounts for 3.74% followed by Iceland which imports 3.47% of Jamaica’s total exports. Norway accounts for 3.46% of the total exports while Romania and Finland account for 2.15% and 1.52% respectively. The main countries that Jamaica imports goods from include: United States, Venezuela, China, and Trinidad & Tobago. Jamaica imports most of its goods from the United States and the US accounts for 41.64% of the country’s total imports. Venezuela accounts for 14.19% of Jamaica’s total imports whereas Trinidad & Tobago make up for 21.03%. China takes the least share with 2.82% of the country’s total imports.
The main countries importing goods from British Virgin Island include Cyprus, Malta, Italy, and Switzerland. Cyprus accounts for the largest share of the island’s total export with 15.1% followed by Malta with 8.97%. Italy makes up for 8.64% while Switzerland takes the smallest share with 8.53%. The main countries that the British Virgin Islands import goods from include: United States, Italy, Germany, and France. The United States accounts for the largest percentage of imports by the British Virgin Islands with 29% followed by Italy with 20%. Germany accounts for 10.1% whereas France accounts for 7% of the island’s total imports.
The main products exported by Jamaica include alumina, bauxite, sugar, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, and mineral fuels. The main imports of Jamaica include food, consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts, and accessories of capital goods, construction materials, machinery, and transport equipment. The main products exported by British Virgin Island include recreational boats, vehicle parts, planes, tug boats, helicopters or spacecraft, audio alarms, railway cargo, valves, rubber tires, and iron ore. The recreational boats account for the largest percentage of the commodities exported by the island with 41.5%. Vehicle parts follow with 9.88% whereas planes, helicopters, and spacecraft account for 7.22%. Tug boats account for 6.07% while audio alarms account for 2% of the country’s total exports.
The main products imported by the British Virgin Islands include recreational boats, passenger and cargo ships, refined petroleum, planes and helicopters, and cars. The recreational boats account for the largest percentage of goods imported by the island with 32.6%. Passenger and cargo ships follow with 11.1% whereas refined petroleum accounts for 9.1%. Plane and helicopters account for 7.33% whereas cars account for 4.04%.
The trade deficit for Jamaica for 2018 was $-2.06B which represented a 2.16% decrease from 2017. The trade deficit for the British Virgin Islands was -943 million dollars. The total gross external debt of Jamaica is expected to rise to 14377.00 million dollars in 2021 and 14708 million dollars in 2022. The total external debt of the British Virgin Islands is 0.04 billion dollars.
Work Cited
“British Virgin Islands (VGB) Exports, Imports, And Trade Partners”. Oec.World, 2020, https://oec.world/en/profile/country/vgb.
“Debt – External – Country Comparison”. Indexmundi.Com, 2020, https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?c=vi&v=94.
“Sectors – Commonwealth Of Nations”. Commonwealth Of Nations, 2020, http://www.commonwealthofnations.org/sectors-jamaica/business/import_and_export/#:~:text=The%20main%20export%20commodities%20are,materials%20machinery%2C%20and%20transport%20equipment.
“Jamaica Major Trade Partners – Countryaah.Com”. Countryaah.Com, 2020, https://www.countryaah.com/jamaica-major-trade-partners/.