The latest Measuring Jersey’s Economy report says that the gross value added figure [a combination of total business profits plus employees’ earnings] per Islander is now £40,200, which represents a 24 per cent decline since 2000 and an 18 per cent decline since 2007.
But the GVA for the economy as a whole grew by one per cent last year and GVA per head in the Island remains 53 per cent higher than in the UK, where it is £26,300.
Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham said that the figures showed that the economy had been stable in recent years.
‘It [GVA] has grown by one per cent last year and that is more than the 0.2 per cent which was predicted by the Fiscal Policy Panel [an independent panel of economic forecasters],’ he said.
‘So it is kind of how we predicted but a bit better. I am pleased that there has been growth in the tourism and agriculture sectors because we are focusing on our traditional industries, as we do need other strings to our bow.’
He added that while finance had declined it still made a great contribution to Jersey’s economy.
The summary accompanying the report says that the decline in GVA per head in the Island was a long-term trend dating back to 2000 and worsened after the global financial crisis of 2007.
‘Most of the long-term decline occurred after 2007; between 2007 and 2016 the GVA per head of population in Jersey decreased by almost a sixth,’ it says.
It adds that the main driver of the decline has been falling productivity, which is the GVA per worker, in particular in the banking sector, as interest rates, and therefore profits, have drastically reduced.
‘Between 2007 and 2016 the productivity of the Island’s economy fell by more than a fifth (22 per cent) in real terms,’ the report says.
‘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.
‘Increased levels of employment in lower-productivity sectors has also been a factor.’
