The value of imports in the first three months of this year fell to their lowest level for a first quarter since 2003, data suggesting a shrinking economy.The Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics for the first quarter of 2011, released by Government yesterday, also suggests a falling population as the value of imported food, beverage and tobacco goods has decreased by more than a quarter in the space of three years.There was better news on air arrivals, whose spending went up by almost a third, according to the statistics, as the number of people arriving at LF Wade International Airport in the first quarter rose 6.8 percent, thanks to a surge in visitors from Canada.Imports fell in both 2009 and 2010, and the January to March period of this year indicates the trend is continuing. The value of total goods imported was $215 million, the lowest total for a first quarter in eight years and down 10 percent from the $239 million imported in the same period in 2010.The severity of the decline in the economy since 2008 is illustrated by the fact that imports have slumped 30 percent since the first quarter of 2008, when the total was $307.1 million.While the slump in the construction industry has significantly reduced the importation of commodity groups such as machinery and basic materials, that cannot explain the 27.3 percent fall in the amount of food and beverages imported since 2008.In the first three months of 2008, food, drinks and tobacco products with a value of $50.6 million were brought onto the Island from overseas. In the first quarter of 2011, that figure had fallen to $38.2 million.Food imports fell by more than $9 million in 2009 and by more than $13 million in 2010, when the full-year total was $173.4 million.This is all the more remarkable, given the increase in food prices globally. The FAO Food Price Index, which reflects the price of five major food groups globally and is published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, was 200 in 2008 and had risen to 232 in March this year.Customers also paid more at the till in Bermuda, with food prices increasing by an average of 5.4 percent in 2009 and three percent last year, according to the Consumer Price Index.Jim Butterfield, president of major food importer and distributor Butterfield & Vallis, described the dramatic three-year slump in food, beverage and tobacco imports as “alarming”, but said that his company’s experience did not reflect such a steep plunge.“We have been experiencing a steady decline over the past three years starting with hospitality and tourist related imports,” Mr Butterfield said.“In the past 12 to 18 months, we have seen a decline in sales to residential consumers mostly due to the reduction in local residents, however 27 percent is far greater than what we believe most food importers have been experiencing.”Mr Butterfield added that the grouping of food, beverages and tobacco as one category could lend some explanation to the massive decline.“Bermuda and its residents continue to experience unprecedented financial pressures and it would seem that it will be well into the future before we see any real improvement,” he added.However, some commodity groups bucked the trend by recording year-on-year rises. The value of clothes imported climbed to $6.3 million from $6.1 million, while chemicals brought in were valued at $23.6 million, compared to $21.8 million last year.The surge in spending by visitors arriving by air reflected a 23.6 percent increase in expenditure per person, from $1,026 in the first quarter of 2010 to $1,268 this year, according to airport surveys.Although there was a fall in the numbers of passengers flying in from both the US and the UK, the number coming in from Canada increased by about 50 percent to 6,469 people, thanks to the addition of the WestJet service bringing competition and extra airlift to the route previously monopolised by Air Canada.Total expenditure by air visitors was $39.8 million, according to the bulletin, representing an increase of $9.5 million over the same period in 2010.The largest component of visitor expenditure was accommodation, which totalled 51.7 percent of all monies spent. Spending on food and drink in restaurants accounted for a further 24.7 percent.Hotels had a better first quarter than in 2010, when their revenues hit rock bottom. In the January to March period this year, revenues were up 11.7 percent to $25.9 million, from the $23.2 million in the same period last year.Resort hotels saw their takings rise to $23.6 million this year from $20.9 million in the first quarter of last year, while cottage colonies also saw an increase from $779,000 to $937,000. Small hotels, however, saw their revenue decline from $1.06 million to $850,000 this year.