Island doing better than Jersey with its economy
GUERNSEY’S economy is outperforming Jersey’s.
Figures released by Statistics Jersey show that over the most recent five-year period, GDP per head of population increased by just 2% in Jersey, by 7% in the UK and by 8% in Guernsey.
This measurement provides a broad indicator of the average economic standard of living for the resident population.
It stands at an estimated £40,790 in Jersey, down 1% annually, while in Guernsey the figure is £49,041, up 2%, and the UK it is £30,900, up 1%.
Economic Development president Charles Parkinson took to social media to highlight the figure yesterday and said: ‘So many people think Jersey is doing better in economic terms than Guernsey. Check the facts.’
Since 2012 Guernsey has outperformed or equalled Jersey’s economy by this measure.
GDP is the market value of all the final goods and services produced a region in a given year and used to show economic performance.
Guernsey’s total GDP for last year is estimated at £3.050bn, which is 2% higher than 2016 in real terms.
Jersey’s rose by just 0.4% to £4.304bn.
Another measure of economic performance released by Jersey is Gross Value Added – a measure of profits and earnings.
Growth in Jersey was achieved in a number of sectors, in particular construction which saw GVA increase by 9%, while transport, storage and communication grew by 4% and the utilities sector by 3%.
But financial services, which makes up 40% of Jersey’s economy, and hospitality dropped by 2%, while the island’s relatively small manufacturing sector saw a 3% decrease.
In contrast, finance sector GVA in Guernsey, which makes a 44% contribution to the overall economy, increased by 4.2% between 2016 and 2017 in real terms
Productivity in Jersey has fallen by almost a quarter since its high point in 2007, prior to the Global Financial Crisis.
‘This decline in the productivity of the island’s economy overall has been driven by a decline in the productivity of the financial services sector,’ it says.
‘Increased levels of employment in lower productivity sectors has also been a factor in recent years.’
