Dominica Import Trade Data: $301.31M in 2023, Up 13.00%

The US Supplies More Than a Third of Everything Dominica Imports

Dominica imported $301.31 million worth of goods in 2023. That was up 13.00% from $266.65 million the year before. That import total runs well over ten times the size of Dominica's export total covered on this site's export page, a gap typical of small island economies that manufacture very little of what they consume. The United States supplied 36.09% of the total, worth $108.73 million. That's more than the next three suppliers combined.

Trinidad & Tobago ranked second at 10.74% ($32.36 million). China followed at 4.71% ($14.20 million). Combined, those three suppliers made up 51.54% of Dominica's import total in 2023, meaning just over half of everything Dominica bought from abroad traces back to only three countries. Trinidad and Tobago's position on this list reflects its role as a fellow member of the Caribbean Community, the regional trade bloc that lets goods move between member states with reduced tariffs. That makes it a natural first stop for Dominica's imports, ahead of goods arriving from farther afield through US or European ports.

United Kingdom added 4.48% ($13.50 million). Austria followed at 3.67% ($11.07 million), an unusually large share for a country with little regional shipping presence in the Caribbean. Venezuela contributed 3.47% ($10.45 million). Antigua & Barbuda took 3.03% ($9.14 million), and France added 2.94% ($8.87 million). Jamaica contributed 2.53% ($7.64 million), and Japan closed out the top ten at 2.17% ($6.54 million).

Fuel and Machinery Lead a List Shaped by Rebuilding

Mineral fuels led every import category, worth $56.30 million, or 18.68% of the total. Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica's second-largest supplier, accounts for over 80% of the Caribbean's total oil and natural gas output, which helps explain why so much of Dominica's fuel bill traces back to a regional neighbor rather than a distant refiner. Machinery and mechanical appliances ranked second at 10.18% ($30.68 million), and electrical machinery followed at 5.72% ($17.24 million).

Beverages, spirits, and vinegar added 4.66% ($14.04 million), a category that leans heavily on imported wine, beer, and spirits for both residents and the island's tourism trade. Vehicles contributed 4.45% ($13.41 million), likely a mix of new cars shipped from the USA and used vehicles sourced from Japan, both common patterns across small Caribbean import markets. Meat and edible meat offal took 3.43% ($10.35 million), and wood and articles of wood added 3.20% ($9.64 million). Plastics contributed 3.17% ($9.54 million). Iron or steel articles took 2.61% ($7.87 million), and miscellaneous edible preparations closed out the top ten at 2.43% ($7.33 million).

Wood, iron or steel, and machinery together point toward ongoing construction activity. Hurricane Maria caused $1.3 billion in damages and losses in 2017, equal to 226% of Dominica's GDP, and the island has spent years since rebuilding roads, water systems, and housing to withstand future storms. Materials for that kind of rebuilding, more steel, more machinery, more construction-grade wood, show up naturally in an import bill this large relative to the size of Dominica's economy.

A Pandemic Crash, Then Five Years Climbing Back Above Where It Started

Dominica's import total fell sharply in 2020. It dropped to $179.97 million from $292.29 million in 2019, a decline of well over a third as the pandemic disrupted global shipping. It recovered only modestly to $190.37 million in 2021, still far below its pre-pandemic level.

Growth accelerated from there. The total climbed to $266.65 million in 2022, then to $301.31 million in 2023, up 13.00% year over year. That 2023 figure marks a new high across this five-year window, comfortably above the 2019 total that preceded the pandemic dip. Given how much of Dominica's import bill tracks fuel prices and reconstruction material costs, that recent acceleration likely reflects both factors moving in the same direction at once, rather than either one alone driving the whole increase.

For a country with an export total of roughly $22 million against an import bill well over ten times that size, the trend line matters more than any single year's total. A small island economy this dependent on imported fuel, food, and building material has limited room to absorb a bad year of global shipping costs or a spike in oil prices, since so little of what it consumes gets produced at home. Watching whether the 2023 growth rate holds, slows, or reverses in the years ahead will say more about pressure on household and government budgets than any other single indicator available for Dominica.