01Key Takeaways
- The Cayman Islands imported $1.83 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 2.0% from $1.80 billion in 2022.
- The USA supplied 82.0% of that total, worth $1.50 billion, an even larger share than it holds among the territory's export buyers.
- Jamaica and the United Kingdom were distant second and third suppliers, at 3.9% ($71.52 million) and 2.5% ($45.40 million); the top three made up 88.4% of import value.
- Mineral fuels led import categories at 14.1% ($258.34 million), the same category that dominates the territory's exports.
024-Year Trend
| Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $1.3B | $1.5B | $1.8B | $1.8B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | $1.5B | 82.0% |
| 2 | Jamaica | $71.5M | 3.9% |
| 3 | United Kingdom | $45.4M | 2.5% |
| 4 | China | $24.3M | 1.3% |
| 5 | Switzerland | $19.4M | 1.1% |
| 6 | Japan | $17.7M | 1.0% |
| 7 | Germany | $14.3M | 0.8% |
| 8 | Panama | $12.5M | 0.7% |
| 9 | Mexico | $12.0M | 0.7% |
| 10 | Italy | $11.8M | 0.6% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $258.3M | 14.1% |
| 2 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $117.0M | 6.4% |
| 3 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $113.7M | 6.2% |
| 4 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $111.6M | 6.1% |
| 5 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $106.7M | 5.8% |
| 6 | Miscellaneous Edible Preparations | $70.6M | 3.9% |
| 7 | Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories, not Knitted or Crocheted | $63.6M | 3.5% |
| 8 | Beverages, Spirits and Vinegar | $63.0M | 3.4% |
| 9 | Furniture; Bedding, Mattresses, Mattress Supports, Cushions and similar Stuffed Furnishings; Lamps and Lighting Fittings, not elsewhere specified or included; Illuminated Signs, Illuminated Name-plates and the like; Prefabricated Buildings | $60.5M | 3.3% |
| 10 | Commodities not specified according to kind | $59.2M | 3.2% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
The USA Supplies Nearly Everything the Cayman Islands Buys
The Cayman Islands imported $1.83 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 2.0% from $1.80 billion the year before, a total roughly 40 times larger than the territory's $45.33 million in exports the same year. United States supplied 82.0% of that total, worth $1.50 billion, an even more dominant position than the U.S. holds among the territory's export buyers. Economic data compiled for the territory shows that because the islands cannot produce enough goods to support the population, essentially all food and consumer goods must be imported, a dependency that shows up clearly in just how lopsided this supplier list is.
Jamaica ranked a distant second at 3.9% ($71.52 million), and the United Kingdom followed at 2.5% ($45.40 million); together with the U.S., these three suppliers make up 88.4% of total import value. China added 1.3% ($24.29 million), Switzerland 1.1% ($19.40 million), Japan 1.0% ($17.70 million), Germany 0.8% ($14.26 million), Panama 0.7% ($12.53 million), Mexico 0.7% ($12.04 million), and Italy rounded out the top ten at 0.6% ($11.81 million).
Fuel and Consumer Goods Dominate the Import List
Mineral fuels, mineral oils, and related distillation products led all import categories in 2023, worth $258.34 million and accounting for 14.1% of total value, the same category that also tops the territory's export list. That pairing fits the bunkering business described on the export side: fuel arrives from abroad and some of it gets resold to cargo ships, cruise liners, and fishing vessels calling at George Town rather than staying entirely within the domestic market. Electrical machinery and equipment followed at 6.4% ($116.97 million), vehicles at 6.2% ($113.70 million), machinery and mechanical appliances at 6.1% ($111.62 million), and plastics at 5.8% ($106.72 million).
The remainder of the list reads like a general consumer basket, consistent with an economy that imports nearly everything it uses day to day. Miscellaneous edible preparations added 3.9% ($70.64 million), apparel and clothing accessories that are not knitted or crocheted contributed 3.5% ($63.61 million), and beverages, spirits, and vinegar added 3.4% ($63.02 million), the last of these plausibly tied to the same tourism and cruise trade visible on the export side. Furniture closed in at 3.3% ($60.51 million), and a catch-all "commodities not specified according to kind" category rounded out the top ten at 3.2% ($59.18 million).
A Steady Climb Over Four Years of Data
The data available for the Cayman Islands covers four years rather than the full five-year span tracked for larger economies, with figures starting in 2020 rather than 2019. Imports stood at $1.33 billion that year, climbed to $1.54 billion in 2021, $1.80 billion in 2022, and $1.83 billion in 2023, up 2.0% year over year, a steadier upward path than the sharper swings seen on the export side.
Set against the $45.33 million the territory exported in 2023, this $1.83 billion import bill leaves the Cayman Islands with a merchandise trade deficit of roughly $1.79 billion, a gap that would look alarming for most economies but says little about the Cayman Islands' actual financial health, since the territory's real economic engine, offshore banking and fund administration, generates its revenue in ways that never appear in trade-in-goods statistics like these. 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.