2020 Annual Economic and Financial Review

2020 Annual Economic and Financial Review

GRENADA

transport, storage and communications (16.2 per cent); construction (13.0 per cent); and agriculture, livestock and forestry (11.3 per cent). Meanwhile, output increased in the sectors of financial intermediation (4.6 per cent), public administration, and health and social work (2.0 per cent each).

The consumer price index fell by 0.8 per cent in 2020, after increasing by 0.1 per cent in 2019. The downward movement was influenced by lower aggregate demand and subdued global oil prices. Consistent with the unfavorable economic environment, the unemployment rate for the second quarter of 2020 was 28.4 per cent, up from 15.1 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2019. This was equivalent to 14,236 persons being unemployed. Fiscal and Debt Developments After four years of consecutive overall fiscal surpluses, the Government of Grenada recorded a deficit amounting to $128.1m (4.4 per cent of GDP) in 2020. This deficit was preceded by an overall surplus of $162.4m (5.0 per cent of GDP) in 2019. However, there were no legislative breaches as the escape clause of the Fiscal Responsibility Law (FRL) was triggered and applied.

Grenada Visitor Arrivals In thousands

400.0

350.0

300.0

250.0

200.0

150.0

100.0

50.0

0.0

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Stay-overs

Cruise Ship Passengers (Includes Excursionist)

Yacht arrivals

The tourism industry was the hardest hit as total visitor arrivals fell by 58.8 per cent to 216,867. The closure of borders and travel restrictions affected all major categories of visitors. Stay over arrivals dropped by 73.1 per cent to 43,815 reflecting lower visitors from all source markets. Similarly, cruise ship passengers and yacht arrivals declined by 51.9 per cent and 57.5 per cent, respectively.

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