Monthly Economic and Financial Developments (MEFD) June 2026
Published: Thursday July 30th, 2026
Domestic Economic Developments
Overview
Based on available indicators, the domestic economy continued to expanded at a healthy rate during the month of June, with the pace of gains further normalizing toward their medium-term potential. Tourism output remained robust, underpinned by a rebound in the high value-added stopover segment and ongoing growth in the cruise sector. In terms of the labour market, the unemployment rate decreased in the fourth quarter of 2025, vis-à-vis the previous quarter and the final quarter of 2024, against the backdrop of an expansion in labour force participation. Meanwhile, average consumer price inflation rose during the 12 months to April, relative to the corresponding 2025 period, reflecting increased cost pressures from imported fuel and other goods and services. Monetary trends for June were marked by a negligible decline in the narrow measure of banking sector liquidity, as the build-up in the deposit base mirrored the expansion in domestic credit. However, the growth in external reserves narrowed significantly, underpinned by a notable decline in net foreign currency inflows through the public sector.
Real Sector
Tourism
Indications are that tourism output growth firmed during the month of May, vis-à-vis the comparable period of 2025, reflecting a strengthening in travel demand from key source markets. In particular, despite continued accommodation capacity constraints, the high value-added stopover segment recorded both accelerated arrival gains and appreciated pricing, supplementing ongoing expansion in the cruise sector.
Official data provided by the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) showed that total visitors grew by 15.3% to 1.1 million in May, relative to the same period of 2025. Underlying this development, sea passengers rose by 16.8% to 0.9 million, while air arrivals increased by 7.1% to 0.2 million.
By major port of entry, total arrivals to Grand Bahama advanced to 127,050, from 30,175 in the comparable period of 2025. In particular, sea arrivals increased nearly five-fold to 121,137, from 24,232 last year, while air arrivals remained relatively unchanged at 5,913 visitors.
Further, visitors to the Family Islands rose by 7.3% to 0.5 million vis-à-vis the same period of 2025, buoyed by a 9.4% rise in air arrivals to 38,644, and a 7.1% gain in sea passengers to 432,693. Meanwhile, total visitors to New Providence grew by 3.2% to 0.5 million during the month of May, as air arrivals increased by 6.8% to 0.1 million, and sea passenger arrivals firmed by 2.1% to 0.4 million visitors.
On a year- to-date basis, total arrivals expanded by 14.2% to 6.1 million visitors. Contributing to this development, sea passengers advanced by 15.9% to 5.2 million, while air traffic registered a 4.8% rebound to 0.9 million visitors (see Table 1), vis-à-vis an incremental contraction of 1.0% in 2025.
According to the latest data provided by Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD), total departures—net of domestic traffic—increased by 3.9% to 153,704 in June, relative to the comparative period of 2025. Reflective of this outturn, international departures rose by 8.1% to 18,962. In addition, US departures moved higher by 3.4% to 134,742.
In the six-months to June, total outbound traffic recovered by 5.0% to 0.9 million, after the cumulative reduction of 2.3% in 2025. In particular, international traffic increased by 35.1% to 168,356, while US departures stabilized at 0.7 million.
In the short-term vacation rental market, total room nights sold grew by 7.8% to 64,017 in June, compared with the same period of the previous year. The occupancy rate for entire place listings rose to 58.1% from 57.0%, while the rate for hotel comparable listings firmed to 52.2%, from 50.1% in the corresponding period of 2025. In addition, the average daily room rate (ADR) increased by 5.1% for entire place listings to $737.13 and for hotel comparable listings, by 5.1% to $178.38.
On a year-to-date basis, total room nights sold rose by 9.4% to 373,788, vis-à-vis the comparative period in the prior year. Additionally, the average daily room rate grew for entire place listings (5.5%) and hotel comparable listings (3.5%).
Employment
Based on quarterly data compiled by the Bahamas National Statistical Institute, labour market conditions continued to improve. The last available data for the fourth quarter of 2025, revealed that the number of employed persons increased to 226,025, from 222,575 in the previous quarter and 218,240 in the same period of 2024. Consequently, the jobless rate moderated to 8.7% during the review fourth quarter, from 8.8% in the third quarter and 9.0% in the final quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate stood at 18.2%, remaining unchanged from the previous quarter, but slightly higher than the 18.0% registered in the comparative period of 2024.
A breakdown by island showed that the unemployment rate for New Providence increased to 8.3% from 8.0% over the quarter, but decreased by 0.8 percentage points over the year. Further, the jobless rate for Abaco fell to 9.1% from 10.2% in the previous quarter and 9.2% year-on-year. In Grand Bahama, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.7% vis-à-vis the prior quarter, but declined on an annual basis by 1.3 percentage points.
Prices
Average consumer price inflation, as measured by the All-Bahamas Retail Price Index, increased to 2.1% during the 12 months to April 2026, after registering a 0.2% decline in the corresponding period of 2025. Contributing to this outcome, average costs rose for restaurants and hotels (14.9%), housing, water, gas, electricity & other fuels (2.4%), and communication (0.8%), after posting declines in the previous year. Further, average inflation quickened for furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance (9.2%), health (3.6%), and miscellaneous goods and services (2.9%). In contrast, average prices declined for alcohol beverages, tobacco & narcotics (4.8%), education (2.1%), food & non-alcoholic beverages (1.7%), clothing & footwear (1.3%), transport (0.9%), and recreation & culture (0.9%).
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