GDP Increased 1% In 4th Quarter Of 2021
“After adjusting for inflation, the real GDP increased 1% for the final three months of 2021,” the Government said today.
A Government spokesperson said, “Today, the Ministry of Economy and Labour released the Quarter 4, 2021 Quarterly Gross Domestic Product [GDP] by Expenditure publication.”
Minister Hayward explained, “After adjusting for inflation, the Real GDP increased 1.0 per cent for the final three months of 2021, capping off a strong year of economic performance. The Bermudian economy experience a robust rebound in 2021 compared to lower activity in 2020 when the economy began to re-open fully with the easing of COVID restrictions.”
Charts extracted from the report
“Household Final Consumption increased 3.8 per cent year-over-year to $793.6 million. Consumption of services, which accounted for 72 per cent of total consumption, increased by 4.0 year-over-year. This growth reflected higher expenditure for air transport and catering services which offset declines in spending on personal care services and accommodation services.
“For non-durable and semi-durable goods, spending rose 1.5 per cent, influenced primarily by purchases of clothing and electronics declared by residents returning to Bermuda from overseas travel. Spending on durable goods rose by 12.1 per cent due largely to increased expenditure on information processing equipment, photography, sound and video equipment.
“For Government Final Consumption, a 7.4 per cent decline during the quarter was due mostly to lower expenditure on materials, supplies and insurance payments. In contrast, expenditure related to professional services grew by $3.9 million during the period.
“Gross Capital Formation [i.e. investment in fixed assets] grew 5.6 per cent to $224.2 million. Gross Capital Formation related to Construction decreased by 5.0 per cent due to the conclusion of a major hotel project. Investment in Machinery and Equipment increased 19.2 per cent due to the importation of furniture, pleasure boats and transmission apparatus for broadcasting.
“The External Balance of Goods and Services decreased 4.0 per cent to $283.8 million as the growth in payments for the Imports of Goods and Services exceeded the rise in receipts from the Exports of Goods and Services. Exports of Goods and Services increased by 3.3 per cent due mostly to increased visitor expenditure in Bermuda and receipts related to legal, accounting and insurance services. Imports of Goods and Services increased 9.0 per cent as payments rose for air passenger transport and freight transport services in line with higher imports of goods such as fuel and transport equipment.
“The public is advised to read the concepts and definitions on the last page of the publication before reviewing the data.”
The full Quarterly GDP Publication Q4 2021 follows below [PDF here]:
