BDA's Economic Impact to Bermuda: $26.3 million According to PwC

A recent economic impact study provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) findings show that the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) had a direct economic impact on the island's economy of $26.3 million in 2017.

Of that amount, an estimated $23.5 million was generated in 2017 by the impact of 165 new international business employees whom the BDA directly helped create jobs for since 2014. An additional $2.8-million impact on the island's gross domestic product (GDP) came from expenditures by 1,700 international visitors whom last year attended 15 industry conferences the agency helped attract to the island, resulting in some 2,200 hotel-room nights.

"We are very encouraged by the report's findings, which underscore the significant direct impact the BDA has on our island's economy through its targeted global business-development strategies," said BDA Chair Paul Scope. "The BDA's mission is to support existing Bermuda-based companies, attract new business to establish and invest in our island, and to protect and enhance our market's world-class reputation as an international finance centre. The study results underscore success to date across all those goals."

Highlights of the 2017 study included the following.

• By December 31, 2017, BDA had helped 65 new international companies set up in Bermuda; of those, 21 arrived in 2017, a year-over-year increase of 17 percent.
• An estimated total $26.3 million impact on GDP, including $23.5 million in on-island 2017 spending resulted from the BDA's creation of 165 jobs, 19 of those last year.
• BDA helped bring in, or retain, a total of 15 conferences to the island in 2017, an increase of 21 percent over the prior year. A minimum of 1,700 international visitors attended, contributing to an overall estimated impact on GDP of $2.8 million.
• Bermuda industry professionals contributed approximately 6,688 hours in-kind to the BDA, with an estimated value of $5.1 million, through participation in BDA working groups, on-island and overseas conferences, business development opportunities, roadshows, videos and webinars, and jurisdictional initiatives.
• All of BDA's concierge clients and 93 percent of its corporate funders agreed the agency was a valuable resource.

According to the BDA, 2018 statistics look set to surpass 2017, with licensed insurers entering the local market already at 50 by the end of September, according to the Bermuda Monetary Authority, along with growth in newer industries, including 40 new FinTech companies this year to date.

The PwC study noted several supporting economic statistics as helpful indicators of national trends that put the BDA's achievements into context.

These included a 9.4-percent increase in business visitors to 48,000 (or 18 percent of all air travelers) in 2017; a total of 793 new international companies and partnerships registered in Bermuda during 2017; a jump in the local job market, the second in 9 years, with filled positions increasing by 0.1 percent or 40 jobs; and a 2.5-percent year-on-year rise in Bermuda's GDP, to $4.7 billion, in 2017.