The twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda has marked a major fiscal milestone, with its Customs and Excise Division notching four straight years of rising revenue and hitting an all-time annual high in 2025, according to an official government announcement. Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant shared the positive update during the country’s weekly post-Cabinet media briefing Thursday, noting that strong growth has carried over into the first half of 2026, outperforming 2025’s midyear results.
The revenue figures were presented to Cabinet by senior leadership from the Ministry of Finance, including the Financial Secretary, Budget Director, Deputy Financial Secretary, Treasury representatives and the Comptroller of Customs. Officials outlined three core drivers behind the sustained upward trend: higher rates of regulatory compliance among importers and traders, ramped-up enforcement efforts to curb revenue leakage, and a broad-based expansion of economic activity across the country.
Analysis of the historical data released by the government shows steady acceleration of growth over the four-year period. In 2022, total customs collections came in at EC$392 million, edging up 2.5% to EC$402 million in 2023. The following year saw a dramatic 25% surge that pushed collections to EC$502 million, followed by another 14% increase in 2025 to reach the new record of EC$573 million. That cumulative growth amounts to a 46% increase in annual customs revenue over just four years.
This positive momentum has not slowed as the country enters 2026. Between January and June of this year, the Customs and Excise Division pulled in EC$276.85 million, which surpasses the EC$255.37 million collected in the first half of 2025. June alone contributed EC$35.97 million to the year-to-date total, a performance that significantly boosted the division’s half-year results.
Following the presentation, Cabinet issued formal commendation to the Comptroller of Customs and Excise and all department staff, recognizing their ongoing commitment to modernizing revenue administration and lifting compliance standards across the board. Merchant emphasized that the consistent growth in customs collections has directly strengthened the government’s fiscal position, allowing it to meet all existing financial commitments while upholding strict fiscal discipline.
“The sustained improvement in customs collection has strengthened the government’s ability to meet its financial obligations while maintaining fiscal discipline and supporting national development priorities,” Merchant stated, summarizing Cabinet’s takeaways from the report.
The customs revenue update was part of a broader fiscal review presented to the Cabinet, which also covered key topics including overall government expenditure, progress on external debt reduction, and domestic fuel pricing. Finance officials told ministers that stronger-than-expected revenue performance has given the government expanded fiscal flexibility to advance its policy agenda. That flexibility is supporting the delivery of major infrastructure projects, funding public healthcare and education services, and maintaining other core public commitments, all while the government continues to pursue prudent long-term fiscal management.