By Central Bank of Barbados
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – What if your favourite drink at the bar could give you a glimpse into the nation’s economic performance? Yes, it can! In Barbados, the humble rum punch might just be the most delicious economic indicator we’ve got.
A drink with history
Rum has been a key economic driver for every country that has ever produced it – Brazil since the 1500s, India who began producing it during the 1600s, and Barbados and Jamaica who joined the fray in the 1700s, to name a few. Barbados even lays claim to having the world’s oldest distillery, with the Mount Gay Distillery’s establishment in 1703. George Washington was so impressed with the spirit when he visited our island in 1753 that upon his return home, he used it to boost the morale of his American soldiers during the Revolutionary War, as well as to compensate the enslaved people on his plantation in Virginia, giving them a pint of rum in exchange for a day’s work. When he began the political career that would eventually see him becoming the first US president, it is even said that he “wooed voters with charm, entertainment, and rum!”
The creation of the traditional rum punch is attributed to restless and innovative sailors employed by the East India Company in the 1700s, and it has gone on to become a staple in the Caribbean. And rum producers the world over quickly jumped on the bandwagon to lay claim to the “official” rum punch recipe, the age-old mnemonic: one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, and four of weak, served with a dash of bitters and a sprinkle of spice!
The punch test
Locals and visitors alike can be found whiling away the hours sipping the drink here in Barbados, generally not aware that their consumption not only stimulates the coffers of the establishment where they purchase it, but that it is also a barometer for the economic fortunes of the country. You can conduct a simple experiment to test this out for yourself. Visit your favourite watering hole at least three times – waiting at least one month between visits. You can even take friends along and involve them in your ‘economic research’ as you follow three simple steps:
Step 1: Order a rum punch – Step 2: Record the price -Step 3: Note whether the establishment is being patronised by many others, or just a few. And while you are at it, note the demographic profile of the patrons, making your best guess to answer these questions: Are they mostly young or old? Mostly Bajan, mostly visitors, or is it roughly half and half?
Tracking inflation by glass
You have now collected your rudimentary indicators!
Repeat these steps over the course of your next two visits, and guess what – if the price of the drink has remained the same, then the economy has most likely remained stable over the 3-month period, and if the price has risen, then the country is likely in an inflationary period. We know that prices generally don’t go down in Barbados, but if by some miracle the rum punch price has decreased, then, we may be entering a happy period of deflation, where prices are falling, and consumer purchasing power is on the rise.
If you observed more people in the establishment calling for rum punch and other alcoholic beverages, Barbados is likely experiencing economic growth. Are you seeing less social drinking? We may be experiencing an economic downturn, which may have driven persons to drinking less often or even selecting less expensive beverages or drinking at home. If you counted 50 drinkers on your first visit, and just one or two more than that on your third visit, then guess what? That is approximately a 2.5 percent increase in drinkers, exactly the percentage increase in GDP that the country experienced for the first six months of 2025!2
Tourism in a glass
Taking a closer look at others who have been relaxing at the tables and warming the bar stools during your outings, if your three months of observation revealed a crowd of mostly locals or a decrease in persons overall, that could signal a decline in tourism activity, suggesting, economically speaking, that we could be in for some rough seas ahead. On the other hand, a crowd heavy on visitors suggests a strong performance in the tourism sector over the period, just the tip of a statistical iceberg suggesting (among other things) healthy GDP figures based on strong tourist arrivals, healthy employment figures, an energised wholesale and retail sector, and most likely heightened construction activity due to hotels and guest houses enhancing their properties in preparation for these visitors.
Cheers to everyday economics
That, in a nutshell, explains how tracking the ebb and flow of our delicious Barbados rum punch can help you to gauge our country’s economic fortunes, without the use of a calculator or crunching hard data.
For your diligence in conducting this experiment, dutifully lift your glass and raise a toast to yourself, to your faithful drinking buddies, and to “Economics in Everyday Life,” the light-hearted CBB series that aims to demystify economics, showing their relevance to daily life.
