GDP Increased 3.6% In 3rd Quarter Of 2021

“After adjusting for inflation, the GDP in constant prices increased 3.6% in the third quarter of 2021, reflecting encouraging signs of a rebound in economic activity, compared to 2020,” the Government said today.

A Government spokesperson said, “The stats were shared today by the Cabinet Office, as outlined in the 2021 3rd Quarter Gross Domestic Product [GDP] by Expenditure publication.

Charts extracted from the report

“There were several increases in a variety of sectors during the third quarter, which drove economic growth:

• Household Final Consumption increased by 6.9% year-over-year to $804.3 million.

• Consumption of services, which accounted for 73% of total consumption, increased by 9.1% year-over-year. This growth reflected higher expenditure for air transport, catering services and accommodation services.  This signaled a return to normal spending on these services which were now offered at a fuller capacity as compared to 2020.

• Exports of Goods and Services increased by 4.2% due mostly to increased visitor expenditure in Bermuda.

• Imports of Goods and Services increased by 16.3% as payments rose for sea freight transport in line with the increase in imports of goods such as fuel and finished equipment.

• Imports of air passenger transport services also grew as residents took more international trips compared to the previous year.

• Spending rose by 2.5% with increased purchases of electricity, as well as goods such as clothing and electronic goods purchased while overseas on travel and declared on return to Bermuda.

• Expenditure related to professional services grew by $4.2 million during the period. Gross Capital Formation [i.e. investment in fixed assets] grew 16.0% to $236.1 million.

• Gross Capital Formation related to Construction increased by 1.5%. This growth reflected the addition of 43 units to the stock of residential dwellings.

• Investment in Machinery and Equipment increased by 32.3 % due to the importation of industrial machinery parts, transport equipment and furniture.

“Meanwhile there were some decreases in Q3 2021.

• Government Final Consumption saw a 0.6% decline during the quarter, due mostly to lower payments for materials, supplies and transport services.

• The External Balance of Goods and Services decreased by 11.2 % to $250.3 million.

• Spending fell by 2.0% due largely to reduced expenditure on motorcycles, major household appliances, furniture and furnishings.

“To review the full 2021 Quarter 3 GDP Report visit https://www.gov.bm/quarterly-gross-domestic-product. The public is advised to read the concepts and definitions on the last page of the publication prior to reviewing the data.”

Minister Wayne Furbert said, “As the public will appreciate, our economy continued to face challenges due to the pandemic in 2021. However, our third quarter GDP numbers showed some encouraging signs of growth and activity in several sectors of our economy. This follows the 2021 second quarter GDP increase of 13%.

“We know that there are still some challenges that we will need to overcome. But this Government remains confident that we have put in place a number of initiatives that will spur our economic recovery.”

The full Quarterly GDP Publication Q3 2021 follows below [PDF here]:

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