2020 Annual Economic and Financial Review

2020 Annual Economic and Financial Review

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

the first half of the year. The contraction was evidenced by double-digit declines across all visitor segments, resulting in an estimated 62.2 per cent decline in total visitor arrivals. The fall in the number of stay-over visitors reflected widespread contractions from all source markets.

There was a pickup in inflation during the year, as the consumer price index rose by 2.8 per cent, relative to 0.7 per cent increase during 2019. The pickup in consumer prices was mainly influenced by increases in the sub-indices for Transport (11.9 per cent) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (1.9 per cent), but was partly alleviated by a decline in the sub-index for Housing, Utilities, Gas and Fuels (2.7 per cent). Provisional estimates from the Antigua and Barbuda Social Security Board (ABSSB) suggested a deterioration in labour market conditions in the first half of 2020. Preliminary data revealed that the average number of registered contributors fell by 12.4 per cent in the first half of 2020 relative to the first half of the previous year, driven by declines in employment in key service-related sectors. Fiscal and Debt Developments Provisional fiscal data indicate that the overall deficit widened to $202.1m, equivalent to 5.3 per cent of GDP, compared with $171.6m (3.8 per cent of GDP) in 2019.

Antigua & Barbuda Visitor Arrivals In thousands

0.0 100.0 200.0 300.0 400.0 500.0 600.0 700.0 800.0 900.0

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Stay-overs

Cruise Ship Passengers (Includes Excursionists)

Yacht arrivals

After registering expansions in 2019, activity in a number of the other economic sectors plummeted, notably transport, storage and communication (24.6 per cent) construction (21.0 per cent), and wholesale and retail trade (14.0 per cent). A noteworthy exception was the agriculture, livestock and forestry sector, which expanded by 1.1 per cent, as measures were taken to enhance domestic food production and food security.

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