Annual Economic and Financial Review -December 2018

2018 Annual Economic and Financial Review ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES

a number of other islands following the passage of two major hurricanes in 2017. An improvement was also recorded in the yachting sub-sector as the number of yacht passengers steadily grew by 10.7 per cent in 2018 to 56,826, relative to the increase of 6.4 per cent in the previous year. The sector benefited from the opening of Glossy Bay Marina in Canouan which has resulted in additional berths and facilitated larger yachts. Developments in the excursions sub-sector however, partly mitigated the overall impact of the sector. After a recovery in 2017, the number of excursionists fell by 13.3 per cent in 2018 to 1,287. Collectively, those sectoral developments resulted in a 17.5 per cent growth in total visitor arrivals to 356,069 in 2018, easing from a 35.8 per cent expansion in the previous year. In line with the improvements in the hotels and restaurants sector, expansions were recorded in many of the allied sectors. Key among them was the wholesale and retail trade sector, which also recovered in 2018. The sector, which is the third largest in terms of its contribution to GDP, is estimated to have improved by 3.6 per cent, further evidenced by an expansion in a number of import categories.

The initial data also point to greater momentum in the transport, storage and communications sector for the review period. With a contribution of 14.5 per cent to output, activity in the sector grew by 6.2 per cent, up from a more moderate expansion of 2.3 per cent in the preceding year. The relatively robust activity in the sector was supported by an acceleration in the cruise sub- sector. The improvement in the sector was also boosted by the pickup in activity in the road transport sub-sector, which was supported by taxi and tour operators as well as by higher stay-over arrivals. The manufacturing sector, which consists of the grains, beverages and building materials sub-sectors, maintained a favourable growth trend in 2018. Value-added in the sector advanced by 5.8 per cent, following growth of 3.2 per cent in the preceding year. Activity in the sector improved, reflecting greater output in the building material sub-sector in the first half of 2018, as manufacturers benefitted from increased external demand, largely driven by reconstruction activity in the islands affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria. This positive development was accompanied by growth in the production of beer (35.8 per cent) and flour (27.5 per cent) in 2018. These expansions were however mitigated by

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