PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — The Department of Statistics estimates that in 2017 real GDP growth dropped by 8.4%. This decrease is not surprising given the anticipated negative impact of hurricane Irma on the economy of St.Maarten.
GDP in current prices decreased from ANG 1,919 million to ANG 1,815 million in 2017.
Whereas, real GDP decreased from ANG 1,765 million in 2016 to ANG 1,616 million in
2017. Values for real GDP are adjusted for inflation to remove the impact of changes in price levels, providing a more accurate figure of economic growth.
The largest gross value added declines in current prices were recorded for the industries
‘financial intermediation’ and ‘transport, storage and communication’, which decreased by
35% and 13%, respectively. In contrast, the ‘health and social work’ and ‘other community,
social and personal services activities’ industries recorded the largest gains in gross value
added namely 37% and 29%, respectively. Other major industries such as ‘trade’ and ‘hotels and restaurants’ also saw a drop in gross value added of 9% each.
When looking at the GDP by expenditure in constant prices, there was a decrease in both
exports and imports of 23% and 12% respectively. However, there was an increase in both
final consumption expenditure and capital formation. Overall, final consumption expenditure increased by 4.3% in which the household component (household final consumption expenditure) increased by 3% and the general government final consumption expenditure increased by 11%. Lastly, gross capital formation increased from ANG 242 million in 2016 to ANG 268 million in 2017, an increase of 11%.
Please note that these are preliminary figures and are subject to revision once the ongoing
National Accounts Survey is complete. This survey seeks to capture final data for the years
2016 and 2017 based on the final financial statements amongst the business sector. Final
estimates for 2016, 2017 and estimates for 2018 will be published in the second quarter of
2019.
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