THE Falkland Islands Government Policy Department has announced the publication of the Falkland Islands National Accounts for the years 2011 to 2022.
These include GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and other National Accounts estimates for those years.
Falkland Islands Economist Andy Wu outlined to Penguin News that GDP in nominal terms for 2021 was £276.7 million (+7.3% compared to 2020); while GDP in nominal terms for 2022 was £278.6 million (+0.7% compared to 2021).
He noted that fishing and aquaculture was again the largest industry, accounting for approximately 58.8% and 59.0% of GDP in nominal terms in 2021 and 2022 respectively (down slightly from 59.2% in 2020 and 60.1% in 2019).
Per capita GDP for 2021 and 2022 was estimated at £83.1k and £83.2k respectively, while per capita GNI (which is calculated by adjusting GDP for net foreign income, and is a better reflection of income accruing to Falkland Islands residents) was estimated at £56.8k in both years.
In a non technical summary from Mr Wu it is noted that Falkland Islands GDP and GNI per capita reflect the impact of revenues from fisheries, “which have proved to be quite volatile in recent years. Previous years have also reflected the impact of oil exploration campaigns. Therefore, per capita GDP and GNI figures for a single year cannot be looked at in isolation as an indicator of the overall robustness of the Falkland Islands’ economy.”
It continues: “GDP in real terms, which adjusts for the effects of price changes and exchange rate fluctuations, increased by 5.0% in 2021 and by 0.6% in 2022, driven in part by the fact that public sector work (public administration and defence, education, and health and social care) held up reasonably well against the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic.”
It is also noted that non-resource GDP (that is GDP excluding both the fishing sector and the oil & gas exploration and development sector) has exhibited a less pronounced volatility over recent years than overall GDP.
Non-resource GDP in constant prices increased by 3.4% in both 2021 and 2022, and has been growing at a compounded average growth rate of +3.6% per year between 2011 and 2022.
Mr Wu notes that “the fact that non-resource GDP held up reasonably well in 2021 and 2022, seemed consistent with the experience of other countries after the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak.
“Indeed, economic activity among major advanced economies including the UK began to revive.
“A number of factors drove the recovery. They were: various measures to reenergise economic activity in the Falkland Islands, consistent with major advanced countries; the effectiveness of policy measures aimed at preventing a further reduction in economic activity (with particular reference to the economic sectors negatively affected by the public health crisis, eg the effectiveness of the TRIP scheme as regards the tourism sector).”