BERMUDA residents spent $76 million more on housing, light and power in 2004 than they did in 2002.

There were 52 telephone installers / repairmen working on the island by the end of last year ? all of them Bermudians.

These and dozens of other interesting pieces of information are contained in , published yesterday by the Department of Statistics.

The jobs section, based on the Employment Survey that was released in June this year, shows that 72 per cent of positions were held by Bermudians by the end of 2005, compared to 73 per cent in 2003.

And the total number of jobs in the Bermuda economy was 38,947 ? up by 1,261 from 2003.

For the first time, the annual publication includes figures on island flower production, which was worth $228,000 last year, and the information communication technology sector.

One of the most striking statistics that might appear unconvincing to commuters fed up of morning traffic queues is that the total number of vehicles registered on the island (47,115) dropped by more than 2,000 in 2005 compared to the previous year.

However, the decrease was confined to the motorcycle category, while the number of cars and trucks both increased.

In what could be a sign of increasing affluence, as well as a reflection of burgeoning demands on the Belco plant, electricity consumption rocketed in 2005.

While energy consumed rose by almost 5,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2004, it leaped by more than 21,500 kWh in 2005 to a total of 616.65 million kWh.

The tourism section showed that Bermuda had a total 517,000 visitors in 2005. But while cruise ship arrivals rocketed by 40,000, air arrivals dipped slightly.

And the island's hotel occupancy rate for 2005 fell to 56.9 per cent, compared to 62.4 per cent in 2004.

can be obtained, free of charge, from the Visitor Service Bureau, the Bermuda National Library, the Department of Communication and Information, or the Department of Statistics in Hamilton's Cedar Park Centre.