The latest inflation numbers were mostly bad news for Cayman’s consumers, with prices across the island still rising.
The Consumer Price Index published by the Economics and Statistics Office on 6 Oct. showed prices rose at an annualised rate of 1.9% in the second quarter of 2025.
That’s a relatively modest increase by international standards, with the US, Canada, UK and Eurozone all having higher rates of inflation.
Not only are prices higher but the amount they increased – i.e. the rate of inflation – between April to June 2025, is higher than the 1.7% increase over the same time period last year.
The only good news for consumers in Cayman came from housing and utilities, which declined by 1.6% in the second quarter of 2025, compared to the second quarter of 2024. The main impulse for this fall was from a 11.7% fall in water supply costs, a 10.7% drop in maintenance and repair costs and a 9.7% fall in electricity bills. Rents, however, continued to increase and were up 2.7%.
Rising food, communication and education costs
The segment showing the biggest increase was spending at restaurants and hotels, which jumped 8.4% in the second quarter, compared to the same period in 2024. The bulk of the increase in this area came from restaurants and cafes, as opposed to accommodation.
The second-largest cost rise came in communication, which was up 8.0% over the same timeframe. But the increase came from people spending more on services, like phone contracts, rather than devices and equipment.
Increased education costs, which have been under the spotlight for several years now, saw a significant 7.2% rises in prices. Here the biggest gains were in the pre-primary and primary segment.
The costs listed above won’t necessarily impact everyone on the island. Yet the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which impact every person living in Cayman, rose by 3.1%. That was driven by dairy, where the cost of milk, cheese and eggs rose by 11.6%.
In the latest episode of Forefront, Department of Agriculture director Wilbur Welcome and deputy director Demoy Nash outlined this government’s policies to increase local food production, including eggs.
The transport price index increased by 4.1%, which was fuelled by a 28.6% jump in the cost of new motor vehicles. That massive rise was mitigated by falls in fuel prices and flight tickets. Health also saw an increase of 3.4%, which was driven by rising pharmaceutical products.
According to the latest figures on its website, the Economics and Statistics Office expects full year inflation to come in at 2.5% in 2025. The office then forecasts that the Consumer Price Index will increase to 3.1% in 2026, before falling back to 2.4% in 2027.
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My CUC bill this month was 10c less than last month ($630). What the article does not mention is that a large segment of the population are unaffected by COLA increases. Not only the Civil Service , but as from last year all Govt entities are entitled to an annual cash payment to match the increase as mentioned in the Cayman Airways article. What is not clear is if the $2,000 “honorarium” dished out is also an annual ‘perk” to the chosen elite.