Bermuda finished 2023 on a fifth consecutive quarter of economic growth, which demonstrated a “strong economic performance” based on Gross Domestic Product calculated by expenditure, the Minister of Economy and Labour said yesterday.

Jason Hayward revealed that the fourth quarter of last year came with 232 new businesses registered on the island: 28 local, 183 exempt companies and 21 exempt partnership companies.

The figure was up 1 per cent year-on-year, bringing the register to 16,269.

Mr Hayward said the economy had gone beyond what was seen five years ago, and that the Government would continue to drive economic expansion by “creating a business ecosystem that allows businesses to thrive“.

He noted that forecasts by the finance ministry of a 4 per cent to 4.5 per cent economic growth for the year were reflected in the Q4 figures, putting the economy “on track to meet those estimates”.

The minister said that the economy increased by 4.7 per cent in 2023 after adjusting for inflation in constant prices.

Mr Hayward insisted that Bermuda’s economy had outperformed the “robust” levels seen in 2019, before the global outbreak of Covid-19 sent it into a tailspin.

“2019 would have been one of the strongest years we would have seen in that ten-year period,” he said, when asked how the economy in 2023 fared over the past decade. “We have exceeded that particular level.

“If you look at the overall size of the economy, it’s much stronger than we were. It’s expanded beyond the levels that we were pre-pandemic.”

Mr Hayward added that Bermuda was “now fully out” of the economic doldrums that it was in with Covid-19.

The minister said: “A recession is not in our midst and we are trending in a strong direction.”

He explained that the latest figures, based on expenditure, would not give the industry-by-industry picture of economic performance that would come from the annual GDP report.

Mr Hayward said: “When we release our annual GDP, I will be able to clearly articulate which have expanded and which remained static or have contracted.”

He added that workforce expansion would be best shown by the annual employment survey data.

The minister said: “We are doing more frequent labour force surveys. We are trending in a positive direction as it relates to growth in employment and lower unemployment rates.”

He acknowledged that the cost of living “remains a challenge for both businesses and households”.

Mr Hayward said: “Inflation has abated a bit, but that’s not what people are feeling in their actual pockets.”

The household income and expenditure survey, which is being conducted this year and will be available in the second quarter of 2025, would be “the best measure as to how households are faring”, he noted.

Asked by ZBM on the move to cut fuel taxes to offset a rise in electricity costs, Mr Hayward said the finance ministry had “accepted that the Government has the fiscal space to provide this particular relief”.

Mr Hayward also rebutted criticism from the Opposition of the island’s economic performance.

Although he conceded that there were “areas of our economy that are a concern and will remain a concern moving forward”, the minister said: “Our economy is not doing badly. It’s actually performing well.”

Real GDP for the first quarter was revised upwards from 4.5 per cent to 5.3 per cent and up from 3.9 per cent to 4.4 per cent for the second, while the third quarter was revised downwards from 8.3 per cent to 6.4 per cent.

Mr Hayward attributed a final consumption expenditure rise of 0.3 per cent for the fourth quarter to higher government spending.

He said: “The results for government expenditure showed consumption increased 2.3 per cent during the quarter, due primarily to higher expenditure in wages and salaries.”

Mr Hayward said that household expenditure remained “relatively static”, at $801.8 million year-on-year.

Employment income was up 9.3 per cent over 2022 levels.

Mr Hayward said that “all major industries reported increases in employee remuneration with the exception of construction”.

Mr Hayward said that gross capital formation with respect to business administration declined 3.3 per cent to $211.8 million — with construction down 5.4 per cent.

The Q4 balance of payments showed the island’s trade surplus with the rest of the world at $216 million, up $46 million year-on-year.

The services transaction surplus stood at $92 million, expanding by $19 million, and the deficit goods account widened $14 million to $336 million.

Bermuda’s primary income account surplus expanded $54 million year on year, to $527 million in the fourth quarter, the figures showed.

The stock of foreign assets held by Bermuda residents registered above its stock of foreign liabilities by an estimated $4.1 billion.

The net international investment position decreased by $539 million, compared with the third quarter of 2023.

• UPDATE: this article has been updated to include further information and commentary