- Economic Indicator First Quarter 2011
Summary Economic Indicators January to September 2010
- Economic Indicators 3rd Quarter 2010 ***
Economic Indicators available up until September 2010, show mixed results overall, however when compared to the situation in 2009, there are some notable improvements specifically in the tourism and banking sectors.
Turnover Tax (TOT) revenues however maintained its declining pattern at about 6% during the review period.
While the inflation figure continued to push upwards, growing further to 3.6% in August 2010, up from 2.4% in February of 2010.
A review of the individual indicators reveals the following:
TOT
During the first three quarters of 2010, a decrease of 5.6% was noted in turnover tax receipts over 2009, after a double digit decline during the third quarter alone.
Tourism Arrivals
Stay-over: While visitor arrivals grew by over 6% during the first quarter, in the following quarter growth cooled, registering a small reduction of under 1% compared to the second quarter of 2009. Tourist arrivals during the third quarter decreased further by 3.6% compared to the third quarter of 2009. The only markets to show an increase during quarter 3 were the South American, growing by 22% and the rest of the world market which increased by about 10% relative to 2009, all other source markets registered a drop.
Overall figures from January to September 2010 show a moderate increase of 1.38% compared to one year earlier.
Occupancy: According to data from the SHTA1, occupancy rates amongst its membership, increased slightly up to September 2010, compared to the same period of 2009. Combined occupancies during the review period were approximately 63% compared to 61% in 2009.
In this publication, occupancy rates during the first & second quarters of 2010 have been revised downwards. This was due to data from one month being erroneously omitted during the half-year publication. Kindly take note of corrected figures.
Cruise: During the third quarter of 2010, the number of cruise calls increased notably, with 25 more calls than the same period in 2009. Correspondingly the number of cruise visitors to the island grew by over 85% in the third quarter alone. Overall cruise arrivals up to September 2010 went up by approximately 20% in 2010 over 2009. This was in line with the projected growth in arrivals at the St. Maarten harbor.
Huge increases in passenger traffic of over 100% were registered in the months of July & August 2010 over 2009.
Government Revenues
Overall government revenues on a cash basis expanded by approximately 19% during the review period.
Revenues from hotel room taxes continued to increase in the third quarter of 2010 over 2009, by about 5%. While timeshare tax revenues also maintained its decreasing trend, falling by 9 percent in quarter 3.
Rental tax receipts contracted by less than 1% in the review period.
Receipts from direct taxes (wage-tax), increased by 4% during the months January to September 2010 over 2009. This represents a further recovery when compared to the 7% decline for the full year 2009.
*A special reminder is hereby made that quarterly figures on Income & Profit taxes have been omitted from the quarterly releases of the Economic Indicators. This is due to the fact that on a quarter-onquarter basis, significant fluctuations are observed in these taxes resulting from varying factors that are not necessarily the outcome of economic developments. Full year figures will however be made available in the Year-End publication, for information purposes only.
AVBZ
AVBZ premiums showed a slight improvement of approximately 3% growth during the first nine months of this year compared to 2009.
Utilities
During the third quarter of 2010 the utility sector, both electricity and water consumption show a decrease of respectively 3.4% and 8% compared to 2009. According to GEBE this is in connection with September being one of the slowest months of the year, as well as the effects of higher fuel prices on average consumption.
Overall figures for the first nine months of 2010 show an increase of near 6% for electricity and a decrease of 1% for water.
Banking
Based on figures from the Central Bank of Curacao & St. Maarten, improvements can be seen in the banking sector throughout the first three quarters of 2010 relative to 2009; resident loans grew by over 9% after increases in the third quarter this year. Expansions in resident deposits also held strong, growing by over 18% in the third quarter of the 2010 compared to 2009.
Cargo
Container movements (in teu’s) at the St. Maarten Port Authority recorded positive growth for the first nine months of 2010, increasing by 6% relative to the same period of 2009. This affirms a return in growth of cargo activity on the island after a sharp decline of 13% during the year 2009.