Monthly Economic and Financial Developments (MEFD) June 2025
Published: Monday July 28th, 2025
Monthly Economic and Financial Developments (MEFD) June 2025
Domestic Economic Developments
Overview
Economic indicators suggest that the domestic economy sustained its tempered pace of growth during June, as indicators continued to normalize closer to their expected medium-term potential. Tourism output reflected healthy, but moderated activity, as the high value-added stopover segment continued to experience constrained momentum, although the cruise sector registered robust growth. In price developments, average consumer price inflation decreased during the 12 months to April 2025, vis-à-vis the corresponding 2024 period, owing to reduced cost pressures from imported fuel and other goods and services. In monetary trends, banking sector liquidity declined, despite a contraction in domestic credit, which outpaced the reduction in the deposit base. Conversely, external reserves increased, largely supported by the receipt of net proceeds from Government’s external borrowing activities.
Real Sector
Tourism
Indications are that tourism earnings moderated overall, as activity in the stopover segment was constrained. Nevertheless, the cruise segment continued to register healthy gains and attract foreign investments in the development of onshore private destinations.
Official data provided by the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) showed that total visitors rose by 6.1% to 1.0 million in May vis-à-vis the comparable period in 2024. In particular, the dominant sea segment grew by 7.2% to 0.8 million, while air arrivals increased by 1.0% to 0.2 million.
A breakdown by major port of entry indicated that total arrivals to New Providence advanced by 11.6% to 0.5 million, relative to the previous year. Notably, sea passengers expanded by 15.8% to 0.4 million and air traffic, by 0.4% to 0.1 million. In addition, overall visitors to the Family Islands increased by 5.1% to 0.4 million vis-à-vis the prior year, owing to the 5.6% rise in sea arrivals to 0.4 million, which overshadowed the 0.4% decline air traffic, to 35,336, as compared to the same period in 2024. In contrast, total arrivals to Grand Bahama reduced by 35.8% to 30,175 from a year earlier, owing primarily to a 42.7% reduction in sea passengers to 24,232, which eclipsed the 25.8% growth in air traffic to 5,943.
On a year-to-date basis, total arrivals expanded by 10.7% to 5.3 million visitors, relative to the comparative 2024 period. Underlying this outturn, was a 12.9% growth in sea traffic to 4.5 million, which outweighed a 0.1% falloff in air passengers to 0.8 million.
Preliminary data from the Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD) indicated that total departures—net of domestic passenger—fell by 2.6% to 147,872 in June, relative to the same period in 2024. This corresponded to a 3.8% decrease in U.S. departures to 130,326, offsetting the 6.6% strengthening in non-US departures to 17,545.
For the first half of 2025, total outbound traffic reduced by 2.3% to 0.9 million. Specifically, U.S departures declined by 2.9% to 0.7 million, relative to the comparative 2024 period. Conversely, non-US departures increased by 1.5% to 0.1 million from a year earlier.
In the short-term vacation rental market, data provided by AirDNA revealed that in June, total room nights sold rose by 5.8% to 79,849, relative to the prior year. However, given increased inventories, the occupancy rate for entire place listings declined marginally to 53.4% from 54.2%; and for hotel comparable listings to 46.0% from 47.9% in the previous year.
Alongside higher sales volumes, as depicted in Graph 1, the average daily room rate (ADR) firmed for entire place listings by 7.9%, to $586.44, but decreased for hotel comparable listings by 0.3% to $184.55.
On a year-to-date basis, total room nights sold increased by 9.8%, while the average daily rates rose for entire place and hotel comparable listings by 8.5% and 3.0%, respectively.
Prices
Average consumer prices—as measured by the All-Bahamas Retail Price Index—decreased by 0.2% during the 12 months to April 2025, following a 2.2% increase in the comparative 2024 period. Contributing to this outcome, average costs reduced for housing, water, gas electricity & other fuels, by 1.9%; recreation & culture, by 0.8%; and restaurant & hotels, by 0.3%, after posting increases of 4.6%, 0.7% and 3.0% in the previous year. Further, the decline in average prices extended for clothing & footwear, to 1.7% from 0.2% in the year prior. In addition, average inflation slowed for furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance (4.4%), miscellaneous goods & services (2.3%), food & non-alcoholic beverages (1.9%), alcohol beverages, tobacco and narcotics (1.7%), education (1.4%) and health (1.0%). Providing some offset, the reduction in average costs moderated for communication (2.7%) and transport (1.5%).
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