01Key Takeaways
- Grenada imported $608.76 million worth of goods in 2023, up 3.31% from $589.27 million in 2022, its highest total across the five-year window.
- Mineral fuels led every import category at 17.81% ($108.44 million), reflecting an island economy with no fuel production of its own.
- The USA was the top supplier at 40.03% of imports, worth $243.69 million, more than four times the size of the next largest supplier.
- The Cayman Islands ranked third among suppliers, a partner whose exports are known to be overwhelmingly re-exported goods rather than local production.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $479.8M | $394.6M | $446.7M | $589.3M | $608.8M |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | $243.7M | 40.0% |
| 2 | Trinidad & Tobago | $84.8M | 13.9% |
| 3 | Cayman Islands | $67.2M | 11.0% |
| 4 | China | $24.5M | 4.0% |
| 5 | United Kingdom | $20.5M | 3.4% |
| 6 | Japan | $14.7M | 2.4% |
| 7 | Barbados | $12.3M | 2.0% |
| 8 | Netherlands | $11.5M | 1.9% |
| 9 | Jamaica | $9.4M | 1.5% |
| 10 | Canada | $8.4M | 1.4% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $108.4M | 17.8% |
| 2 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $51.5M | 8.5% |
| 3 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $37.0M | 6.1% |
| 4 | 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 | $33.8M | 5.6% |
| 5 | Meat and Edible Meat Offal | $21.7M | 3.6% |
| 6 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $18.8M | 3.1% |
| 7 | 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 | $18.7M | 3.1% |
| 8 | Articles of Iron or Steel | $18.4M | 3.0% |
| 9 | Wood and Articles of Wood; Wood Charcoal | $17.7M | 2.9% |
| 10 | Beverages, Spirits and Vinegar | $16.3M | 2.7% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Fuel Leads a List Shaped by an Island With Little Industry of Its Own
Grenada imported $608.76 million worth of goods in 2023, up 3.31% from $589.27 million the year before, its highest total across this five-year window. Mineral fuels led every category by a wide margin, worth $108.44 million, or 17.81% of the total. Grenada produces no oil or gas of its own. The island depends entirely on imported fuel for transportation, electricity generation, and industry. Nuclear reactors, boilers, and machinery followed at 8.46% ($51.50 million), a category that covers everything from generators to construction equipment for an island with limited heavy-industry capacity of its own. Vehicles took third at 6.08% ($37.01 million), another category where a small island with no domestic auto manufacturing relies entirely on imports.
Electrical machinery contributed 5.56% ($33.82 million), covering everything from household appliances to industrial equipment that Grenada's small manufacturing base does not produce. Meat and edible offal added 3.57% ($21.75 million), a reminder that Grenada's small agricultural base does not cover the island's protein needs on its own. Plastics took 3.09% ($18.80 million), and furniture, lighting, and prefabricated buildings contributed 3.06% ($18.66 million), a category that tends to track construction activity and tourism-sector development on the island.
Iron or steel articles added 3.02% ($18.41 million), and wood and articles of wood contributed 2.91% ($17.71 million), both tied to Grenada's ongoing construction activity, including rebuilding efforts that have continued in the years since major storms damaged housing and infrastructure across the island. Beverages, spirits, and vinegar closed out the top ten at 2.68% ($16.33 million), a category that still leaves room for imported spirits alongside Grenada's own small rum industry. Outside mineral fuels, no single category reaches even 9% of the total, and the list overall reflects an economy that manufactures very little of what it consumes.
A Financial Hub Shows Up as a Meaningful Goods Supplier
United States supplied 40.03% of Grenada's imports in 2023, worth $243.69 million, more than four times the size of the next largest supplier. That is an unusually dominant share for any single country covered on this site. Trinidad & Tobago followed at 13.92% ($84.76 million), a fellow CARICOM member with a more diversified manufacturing and food-processing base than most of its island neighbors. Combined together, the USA, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Cayman Islands, the three largest suppliers, made up 64.99% of total import value in 2023.
The Cayman Islands ranked third at 11.04% ($67.19 million), a striking result for a jurisdiction better known as an offshore financial center than a goods producer. Cayman Islands merchandise exports are comprised largely of re-exports, with mineral fuels alone accounting for 52.3% of the total in a recent year. That pattern lines up with Cayman appearing in Grenada's import data as a fuel supplier, despite having no oil production of its own. China added 4.03% ($24.50 million), and the United Kingdom contributed 3.37% ($20.49 million). Japan took 2.41% ($14.69 million), Barbados added 2.02% ($12.31 million), Netherlands contributed 1.88% ($11.45 million), Jamaica took 1.54% ($9.38 million), and Canada closed out the full top ten list at 1.39% ($8.43 million).
A Record Import Year, Unlike the Export Side's Volatility
Grenada's import total moved through the same volatile five-year stretch as its export figures, though with a steadier overall shape. It stood at $479.83 million in 2019, then fell to $394.55 million in 2020 as the pandemic disrupted shipping routes and tourism-linked demand across the Caribbean alike. It recovered to $446.68 million in 2021, then jumped to $589.27 million in 2022, a year shaped by the same global energy-price surge that hit import bills across much of the world, Grenada included given its total reliance on imported fuel.
The 2023 total of $608.76 million, up 3.31% year over year, marks a new high for this five-year window, extending the recovery from the 2020 pandemic low in every year since. Grenada's export total swung by more than 20% in the same year, driven by gains spread across several small categories. The import side, by contrast, has moved in a more gradual, upward direction. That steadier pattern is consistent with a small economy whose basic needs for fuel, food, and manufactured goods stay fairly constant, regardless of how any single export commodity happens to perform in a given year.