the previous year, according to Government statistics.

In figures released in the Bermuda Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics, the Island imported $198,859 worth of goods compared to $165,522 in the same period last year.

The rise is mainly due to an increase in the importation of food, beverages and tobacco, clothing, chemicals, basic material and semi-manufacturing, machinery, transport equipment and finished equipment.

The biggest increase was in imported machinery, which rose 53 percent from $35,287 to $54,068 this year.

The second largest increase was in the amounts of chemicals imported. Last year $15,414 worth were brought in, while this year $22,747 arrived at dock -- an increase of 47.5 percent.

Imports of transport equipment also showed strong growth, with an increase of nearly 40 percent from $11,050 to $15,414.

The figure for food, beverages and tobacco rose slightly to $33,946 and clothing was up by nearly 10 percent to $9,897.

On the other hand the amount of fuel imported dropped from $6,739 to $4,796.

Most of the imports came from the United States, $137,487 worth of goods. The next most popular country to import from was Canada, with $10,322 worth of goods imported.

The United Kingdom was the source of $8,379 of goods and the Caribbean $5,648 worth of goods.

Tourism figures; Page 27 BUSINESS BUC