NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBB) says that the domestic economy tempered the pace of growth during November relative to the corresponding period in 2024, with key economic indicators converging closer to their medium-term potential.
In its Monthly Economic and Financial Developments (MEFD) for November 2025, the CBB said that although tourism continued to register healthy growth, inflows remained tempered by subdued performance in the high-value-added stopover category, given constrained accommodation capacity and softer demand from the United States market.
“However, healthy gains persisted in the cruise sector,” the CBB said, noting that in labour market developments, the unemployment rate declined in the second quarter of 2025, compared with the first quarter, bolstered by a reduction in the number of unemployed persons.
It said that, about prices, average consumer prices posted a marginal decline over the 12 months to July 2025, in contrast to upward movements over the same period last year, mainly reflecting a decrease in fuel- and energy-related costs of goods and services.
The CBB said that monetary trends in November were marked by a buildup in banking-sector liquidity, despite domestic credit expansion that outpaced the growth in the deposit base.
However, external reserves decreased during the review month, reflective of net foreign currency outflows through the private and public sectors.
The CBB said that initial data showed that tourism output continued to grow during the review month, albeit at a more moderate pace, as the stopover segment still faced headwinds, including accommodation capacity constraints and decreased demand from the US-sourced market. Nonetheless, the cruise segment remained buoyant.
Official data from the Ministry of Tourism indicated that total arrivals grew by 18.4 per cent to 869,002 in October 2025, vis-à-vis the corresponding period in 2024. The outturn was primarily attributed to a 20.8 per cent growth in sea passengers to 786,457. Conversely, air traffic declined by 0.9 per cent to 82,545.
On a year-to-date basis, total arrivals grew by 9.5 per cent to 10 million visitors through October. Contributing to this outcome, sea arrivals expanded by 11.6 per cent to 8.6 million. However, air arrivals reduced by 1.9 per cent to 1.4 million.
The most recent data from the Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD) showed that total departures net of domestic passengers remained relatively unchanged at 113,763 in November, compared with the same period in 2024.
In particular, non-US international departures grew by 14.9 per cent to 21,533, compared with the comparable 2024 period.
However, US departures decreased by 2.9% to 92,230. On a year-to-date basis, total outbound traffic fell by 2.2 per cent to 1.5 million, owing mainly to a 3.4 per cent decline in US departures to 1.2 million. In a slight offset, non-US international departures rose by 5.4 per cent to 0.2 million.
In the short-term vacation rental market, the CBB said that AirDNA data showed that in November, total room nights sold declined by 0.4 per cent to 48,288, compared with the prior year.
Correspondingly, the occupancy rates for both entire place and hotel comparable listings fell to 47 per cent and 47.4 per cent, respectively, from 49.2 per cent and 47.8 per cent in the prior year. Meanwhile, the average daily room rate (ADR) for the entire place listings increased by 7.9 per cent to US$455.53, relative to the previous year.
However, the corresponding rate (ADR) for hotel comparable listings declined by 9.1 per cent to US$154.76, vis-à-vis the same period last year.
Based on quarterly data compiled by the Bahamas National Statistical Institute, labour market conditions improved in the second quarter of 2025 compared with the first quarter.
The unemployment rate decreased to 9.3 per cent in the review quarter, from 10.8 per cent in the previous quarter, although it was still higher than the 8.7 per cent in the same period last year.
In particular, the number of employed persons rose to 218,620 in the review quarter, up from 214,725 in the preceding quarter and 213,210 in the comparable 2024 period. Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 20.3 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2025.
The average consumer prices, as measured by the All-Bahamas Retail Price Index, posted an incremental decline over the 12 months to July 2025, following a 1.5 per cent firming in the comparative 2024 period.
In particular, average costs reduced for housing, water, gas, electricity, and other fuels by 1.6 per cent, and for restaurants and hotels by 0.1 per cent, following gains in the previous year.
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