The Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Hon. Wayne Furbert, JP, MP, released the Quarter 2, 2020 Quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Expenditure publication from the Department of Statistics.
The Minister explained, “After adjusting for inflation, the GDP in constant prices for the second quarter decreased by 15.7 per cent to $1,368.0 million. The decline in growth was influenced primarily by double-digit declines in final consumption and gross capital formation due to restricted economic activity caused by mitigation efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
In analyzing the components, the Minister reported “Final consumption fell by 15.1 per cent as both household and government consumption decreased year-over-year. Household Final Consumption decreased 18.0 per cent year-over-year to $671.3 million with expenditure on durable goods and services experiencing the largest declines. For durable goods, spending fell 33.4 per cent with fewer purchases of motor vehicles, furniture and major household appliances. Spending on services contracted 14.7 percent with the largest declines recorded for travel-dependent services such as accommodation and air transport. Catering services and personal care services also decreased significantly. Consumption of non-durable goods fell 6.5 per cent despite large increases in expenditure on food and beverages. For government consumption, lower payments for employee overheads and other personnel costs led to a 4.0 per cent decrease.”
The Minister further explained, “Gross Capital Formation (i.e. investment in fixed assets) fell 55.6 per cent to $152.3 million. Gross Capital Formation related to Construction registered a 40.5 per cent decrease while investment in Machinery and Equipment fell 66.8 per cent, both reflecting restricted economic activity during the second quarter.
In contrast to the other components of the quarterly GDP estimates, the net surplus on trade in goods and services increased 37.0 per cent to $341.0 million. This growth reflected mostly lower expenditure on the Imports of Goods and Services. Payments for the Imports of Goods fell sharply by 48.0 per cent due to decreases in imported fuel, machinery and equipment while Imports of Services decreased 39.9 per cent as payments for freight transport fell and residents spent less on travel services. Exports of Services were 19.0 per cent lower as receipts from travel services dipped significantly due to travel restrictions. Exports of Goods also fell 41.3 per cent due primarily to less fuel sold to visiting airlines.”
The Quarter 2, 2020 Quarterly GDP by Expenditure publication is available online at 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.