havana/The sugar sector has been announcing for years the harvest failures and the inability to deal with national demand and international commitments, although until now there was no deficit recorded in the product trade balance which was the driving force behind the Cuban economy. surplus Foreign trade data in 2023, published last Saturday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), shows that, for the first time in its history, sugar imports from Cuba are higher than exports. trade
Last year, Cuba imported sugar and sugar products worth $36,576,000, higher than exports, which reached only $11,187,000. In 2022, willing to honor the contracts signed, especially with China, Havana exported sugar for $ 60,592,000 while importing, mainly from Brazil and France , for $52,163,000. It was the last year with a surplus for Cuba.
On the other hand, honey exports improved ($13,734,000), which had fallen significantly in 2022 (408 million). However, the results for 2023 are lower than the results of 2021 (21,694,000) and 2020 (15,657,000).
In other areas, the export of fish and seafood decreased (53,154,000 dollars), even in the frozen (52,817,000) and canned (77,000) varieties; and coffee, cocoa and tea (2,405,000).
Of the strong Cuban exports, only tobacco and alcohol exports increased
Of the strong products from Cuba, only tobacco exports increased (287,000,000 dollars in total, including derivatives), which rose 24.8%, and alcoholic beverages (188,804,000).
The amount received from the sale of medicines, another of the stars, is not specified, nor is the export of medical services – which brings a lot of foreign money to the state’s coffers – but what is of drugs imported by the Island. in 2023: 80,023,000 dollars, compared to 86,364,000 years before.
According to the economist Pedro Monreal, who regularly analyzes Cuban statistics, “hiding Cuba’s main export of services (‘human health and social care services’) in the official statistics of 2023 through a recasting of sections of the report,” showing contempt for the information. users,” he said on his X account.
Likewise, he pointed out the change in sector to hide the benefits that come from the tourism sector, which the regime has given most of the investments in the last years despite the fact that the sector has not returned to its past levels after the pandemic. “The previous category ‘accommodation, food and beverage provision’, which was traditionally used as an approximate indicator of income from tourism, has been changed to create the new category of ‘travel’, which makes a category desperate to look better,” he said.
This item raised $1,304,077,900, 13% more than in 2022, but 53% less than in 2019.
In addition, food and live animals were imported for $2,165,452,000, 7% less than in 2022.
Monreal also pointed to the increase in vehicle introduction: “They grew by 138% (2,472 units in 2022 compared to 5,871 in 2023) and tractors fell by 70% (446 in 2022 compared to 136 in 2023). Expenditure on vehicles ($125.7 million) was 56 times higher than on tractors. The numbers show the low investment in the agricultural sector, very depressing in the country.
In addition, food and live animals were imported for 2,165,452,000 dollars, 7% less than in 2022. Shelled, it was meat and preparations (626,994,000), chicken and offal (441,859,000), rice ( 343,305), 000 the products bought mainly drinks and tobacco (435,705,000), grain (844,180,000); as well as other famous ones such as powdered milk (65,800,000), condensed milk (8,742,000) and flour (68,912,000).
In total, the Island exported goods worth 1,583,000,000 dollars – 587,000,000 less than the previous year – and imported 8,973,000,000 dollars, a terrible difference that shows the dependence of the Cuban economy on products obtain in the international market.
China, Spain and Canada were the countries that led purchases from the Island, and Spain and China were again the ones that provided the majority of products and services, as well as Venezuela. The United States ranked tenth among Cuba’s trading partners, mainly due to the regime’s monthly imports, as exports to that country are still at lowest.
