ISLAND residents spent more than $16 million on consumer goods overseas in just three months last year, according to the latest statistics.

And the Chamber of Commerce is to launch a fresh campaign to 'Buy Bermuda' in the hope of keeping more cash on the island.

According to Government's Department of Statistics, residents on average spent $337.11 on every overseas visit for the three months up to September 30 2006, giving foreign retailers a revenue of $16.9 million.

The figure represents an increase of 4.7 per cent on the same three-month period in 2005.

Almost half of that amount ? $8 million ? was spent on clothing and accessories, an increase of 12.1 per cent on 2005. Spending on jewellery and watches rose by 22.8 per cent while purchases of computer goods jumped 11.5 per cent. There were also increases in spending on household items such as furniture (3.6 per cent), electronic and photography equipment (1.9 per cent) and toys and sporting goods (0.3 per cent).

But there was some good news for island retailers. Domestic retail sales for the same three-month period rose by 5.4 per cent.

Yesterday Kristi Grayston, co-chairperson of the Retail Division of the Chamber of Commerce, said the statistics were "disappointing but not surprising".

She also pointed out that the figure represented only a portion of overseas purchases because many travellers did not declare all items bought overseas while transactions made on the Internet were also not included.

"That's nearly $17 million that has gone out of the country in just three months ? that's significant," Mrs. Grayston said.

"We will be launching a new campaign in the next few weeks to encourage people to buy Bermuda. People need to know what happens when you earn in one community and spend in another, but it's a very difficult message to get across."

Mrs. Grayston said that, with Internet shopping now commonplace, many small communities were struggling to keep their local economies buoyant.

She added that, while it was "tempting" to shop overseas, the cost of many items in Bermuda simply reflected the higher cost of living and higher salaries compared to other jurisdictions.

And she said that there were some "great products" on the island, but local retailers could be forced to stop stocking them if nobody was buying.

"We're not saying that you shouldn't shop when abroad, but to buy everything.., she asked.

"People go away for weekends, stay in hotels next door to shopping malls, and do all their shopping for the year, complaining that there's no selection here.

"But the retail community isn't going to supply things if people aren't buying them. It's very frustrating because so many people don't understand that."

Ms Grayston added that many clothing items cost the same here as they did in the US, but by buying locally, consumers could escape duty fees.

"If you are going overseas and then paying 25 per cent at the airport, you're robbing yourself," she said.

Of the 50,025 overseas trips made by residents between July 1 and September 30 last year, the majority ? 33,431 ? were to the United States. A further 6,682 trips were made to Canada while another 5,228 journeys were made to the UK. More than 80 per cent of travellers were going on vacation while 4,111 travellers went on business trips.