Barbados Import Trade Data: $2.14B in 2023, Down 0.4%

Barbados' Top Import Sources in 2023

Barbados imported $2.14 billion worth of goods in 2023, the latest year with verified trade data in this dataset. That total marks a decline of 0.4% from the $2.15 billion recorded in 2022, essentially flat after a sharp jump the prior year. The United States was the largest source of Barbados' imports, supplying 38.0% of the total, worth $813.69 million.

Trinidad & Tobago ranked second at 21.5% ($460.57 million), well ahead of the Netherlands at 6.5% ($140.07 million) and the United Kingdom at 4.8% ($103.63 million). China took fifth place at 3.5% ($75.92 million), followed by Japan at 2.6% ($55.65 million) and Panama at 2.3% ($48.36 million). Jamaica supplied 2.0% ($43.87 million), Canada added 2.0% ($42.41 million), and Spain rounded out the top ten at 1.1% ($24.28 million). Together, the top three sources made up 66.0% of total import value.

Trinidad and Tobago's second-place ranking stands out because, unlike most of its Caribbean neighbors, that country hosts substantial oil refining capacity of its own, making it a natural regional supplier of refined petroleum products. That relationship lines up directly with mineral fuels ranking as Barbados' single largest import category, discussed further below, and points to a supply chain where Barbados sources much of its fuel from a nearby CARICOM refiner rather than from more distant oil-producing regions. Combined, the USA and Trinidad and Tobago alone account for close to three in every five dollars of goods Barbados imports, a concentration in just two partners far higher than the remaining eight partners manage together.

Beyond the top two, the remaining eight partners in the top ten are each comparatively modest, none exceeding 7% of the total. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom reflect longstanding European trading and colonial-era commercial ties, while China, Japan, and Panama point to manufactured goods and transshipment flows routed through major global and regional logistics hubs. That mix of close regional supply for fuel alongside longer-distance sourcing for manufactured goods gives Barbados' import base a two-tier structure: bulk commodities from a nearby CARICOM partner, and finished goods from further afield.

Leading Import Categories

Mineral fuels, mineral oils, and related distillation products led all import categories in 2023, worth $531.59 million and accounting for 24.8% of total import value. Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery, and mechanical appliances followed at 9.7%, worth $207.63 million, and electrical machinery and equipment ranked third at 6.3% ($134.18 million).

Vehicles and related parts and accessories added 6.0% ($129.23 million), while plastics contributed 3.2% ($68.89 million). Beverages, spirits, and vinegar brought in 2.5% ($54.11 million), and furniture and lighting fittings added 2.5% ($53.74 million). Miscellaneous edible preparations contributed 2.2% ($48.11 million), paper and paperboard added 2.2% ($47.10 million), and pharmaceutical products closed out the top ten at 2.1% ($45.95 million).

Mineral fuels alone represent close to a quarter of Barbados' total import value, more than double the size of the second-ranked category, underscoring just how central imported energy is to the island's overall trade bill. That single category being worth more than machinery, electrical equipment, and vehicles combined illustrates how heavily energy costs weigh on Barbados' import spending relative to industrial and consumer goods, and it explains why Trinidad and Tobago's refining capacity makes it such a significant secondary source in the partner rankings above.

The remaining categories, spanning machinery, vehicles, plastics, beverages, furniture, food preparations, paper, and pharmaceuticals, form a fairly even spread of consumer and light industrial goods, with none individually clearing 10% of the total. That gradual taper from the top three categories down to the tenth-ranked pharmaceutical products, which still holds just over 2% of the total, points to a broad-based consumer economy layered on top of the dominant energy import bill, consistent with an island that imports most of what it consumes beyond the food staples and beverages produced regionally.

Import Totals Hold Steady After a Sharp 2022 Jump

The five-year trend shows imports climbing steadily before a sharp jump and a near-flat 2023. Imports moved from $1.58 billion in 2019 to $1.50 billion in 2020, recovered to $1.67 billion in 2021, then jumped sharply to $2.15 billion in 2022 and held nearly steady at $2.14 billion in 2023. That two-year plateau at a much higher level than 2019 through 2021 suggests the 2022 increase reflected a lasting shift in import demand rather than a one-year spike that has since faded.

This pattern is consistent with the Central Bank of Barbados, which publishes detailed trade-in-goods tables tracking the country's imports by both source country and commodity grouping, including the USA and Trinidad and Tobago's leading roles among Barbados' import sources. For a closer look at how individual partner countries or product categories break down year over year, the data panels above provide the full detail behind these figures.