The Cayman Islands’ economic expansion remains robust with the estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rising by 2.7 percent in 2016. This was the highlight of The Cayman Islands’ Annual Economic Report 2016 released by the Economics and Statistics Office.

The 2016 GDP growth, however, is marginally lower than the 2.8 percent achieved in 2015. This performance coincided with the downtrend in global growth from 3.4% in 2015 to 3.1% in 2016. The US also showed a lower growth rate of 1.6% in 2016 compared to 2.6% in 2015.

The Islands’ economic growth in 2016 was broad-based as all sectors expanded. The top 5 industries with the highest estimated growth rates are electricity and water supply (5.6%); real estate, renting and business activities mainly legal and accounting services (4.6%); construction (4.5%); agriculture and fishing (3.7%); and manufacturing (2.9%).

The central government’s fiscal performance marked another year of surplus amounting to $101.0 million, albeit lower than the $116.3 million recorded in the previous year as the increase in total revenue (by 4.9%) was outweighed by the increase in total expenditure (by 8.6%).

The strong fiscal position allowed the government to reduce its outstanding debt from $511.0 million as at end 2015 to $483.9 million as at end 2016.

For more information on the “The Cayman Islands’ Annual Economic Report 2016,” please visit www.eso.ky.