The economy of Jamaica expanded 2 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, following a 2 percent growth for the previous quarter, supported mainly by manufacturing (2 percent vs -0.4 percent in Q3); agriculture (3.1 percent vs unchanged); food, beverages & tobacco (2 percent vs unchanged); wholesale & retail trade (1.6 percent vs 0.9 percent); hotels & restaurants (2.8 percent vs 2.1 percent); transport storage & communication (1.9 percent vs 1.4 percent); finance & insurance services (0.8 percent vs 0.7 percent); and real estate (0.7 percent vs 0.6 percent). On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the economy contracted 0.8 percent. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Jamaica averaged 0.55 percent from 1997 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 4.30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 and a record low of -4.60 percent in the second quarter of 2009.
GDP Annual Growth Rate in Jamaica is expected to be 2.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate GDP Annual Growth Rate in Jamaica to stand at 2.20 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Jamaica GDP Annual Growth Rate is projected to trend around 2.30 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.