Jamaica’s GDP Rebounds 1.1% in Q1 2025

Jamaica’s economy expanded 5.1% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, accelerating from a 1.7% increase in the previous quarter. Growth was led by agriculture, forestry, and fishing (20.9%), followed by other manufacturing (12.0%), transport and storage (7.1%), and accommodation and food services (6.8%). Public administration and defence was the only sector to contract, down 0.7%. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP increased 1.1%.

The economy of Jamaica expanded by 1.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, rebounding from a 0.8% contraction in Q4 2024. The recovery was driven by a 2.0% increase in goods production, with all productive sectors posting gains — manufacturing (+1.7%), construction (+1.4%), mining and quarrying (+0.7%), and agriculture (+3.1%). In addition, the services sector grew by 0.8%, supported by increases across most industries. However, this was partially offset by declines in wholesale & retail trade, repair and installation of machinery (-0.8%), and real estate & business activities (-0.4%).

The economy of Jamaica contracted by 0.8% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, following a revised decline of 3.3% in the previous quarter. This marks the first back-to-back quarterly contractions since the pandemic, driven by sharp declines in several sectors, including agriculture, forestry, and fishing (-10.6% vs. -12.5% in Q3), mining and quarrying (-2.3% vs. -17.4%), utilities (-1.4% vs. -5.8%), hotels and restaurants (-0.3% vs. -4.9%), and manufacturing (-0.5% vs. -4.0%). Meanwhile, construction continued to decline but at a slower pace (-2.7% vs. -3.3%), while wholesale and retail trade rebounded slightly (0.2% vs. -3.0%). On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the Jamaican economy expanded by 1.4% in Q4, rebounding from the 1.5% downturn from Q3.