Cayman Islands’ Current Account Deficit widened in 2020

The Cayman Islands’ Balance of Payments (BOP) and International Investment Position (IIP) Report 2020 shows the statistical summaries of the economic and financial transactions between residents of the Cayman Islands and the rest of the world.  The statistics are generated from survey returns of local businesses and other organizations, as well as data provided by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA).

The latest BOP statistics for 2020 shows that the total payments of residents to non-residents exceeded receipts, thus resulting in a current account deficit of $636.3 million, compared to the $539.0  recorded in 2019.

The Current Account deficit for 2020 is estimated to have widened by 18.0 percent to reach $636.3 million from the deficit of $539.0 million recorded in 2019.  This primarily emanated from a significantly reduced services sub-account, with the net balance declining by $495.4 million.  Additionally, the primary and secondary income account and the goods account all recorded improvements, registering a slight decline in the deficit.  The goods accounts recorded a smaller decline of $517.6 million in 2020.

The IIP shows the value and composition of foreign assets and liabilities of residents at the end of the year.  The latter represents the total investments of non-residents in the Cayman Islands.

At the end of 2020, the Cayman Islands residents’ net international investment position stood at $65.2 billion, up from the $47.0 billion recorded in 2019.  Both the assets and liabilities stock declined, with assets falling off by $7.5 billion to $146.4 billion, while liabilities dropped by $25.7 billion to $81.3 billion.

Other information may be obtained from the Report posted at the Economics and Statistics Office website: www.eso.ky