Today, the Statistical Institute of Belize published its latest statistics on the consumer price index, external trade, and the consumer confidence index for March 2024.
Consumer Price Index
For March 2024, the Statistical Institute of Belize’s monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) survey showed that the All-Items CPI, which summarizes price levels across all categories of consumer goods and services, stood at 118.0. This was an increase from 114.2 in March 2023, signaling a national inflation rate of 3.4 percent for the month. The year-to-date or cumulative inflation rate for the first three months of 2024, when compared to the same period in 2023, stood at 3.9 percent. The ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ category, which rose by 6.4 percent, accounted for almost one-half of the overall increase in consumer prices over the three months.
Click the following link to read more: Consumer Price Index, March 2024
Merchandise Trade
During March 2024, Belize’s imported goods were valued at $220.7 million, down by 3.9 percent or $9 million from the $229.7 million imported in March of 2023. Imports decreased across nearly all commodity categories, with the most significant reductions observed in goods for the ‘Commercial Free Zones’ and ‘Manufactured Goods’. These reductions overshadowed a significant rise in imports of ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ during the month. Merchandise imports for the first three months of the year, January to March 2024, amounted to $720.4 million. This represented an increase of 12.2 percent or $78.4 million from the first three months of 2023 when imports were valued at $642 million.
Domestic exports for March 2024 totaled $31.1 million, up by a marginal 0.4 percent or $0.1 million when compared to March 2023, when exports were valued at $30.9 million. Merchandise exports for the period January to March 2024 totaled $68.6 million, a decrease of 12.1 percent or $9.4 million from $78 million recorded for the same period in 2023.
Click the following link to read more: External Trade, March 2024
Consumer Confidence Index
The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) is an indicator that measures consumers’ sentiments concerning general economic conditions within the country, their household’s economic situation, and making major household purchases. It provides an early indication of future household spending, investing, and saving. With household spending being a major contributor to the overall economy, this in turn is an early indicator of future economic growth.
The CCI is an index number, ranging from 0 (completely pessimistic) to 100 (completely optimistic). Generally, a value greater than 50 indicates that consumers are more optimistic overall about the economy and their economic prospects. The CCI is comprised of three components: (1) perceptions about how present macroeconomic conditions and the household’s financial situation compare to twelve months prior; (2) expectations about economic conditions and the household’s financial situation over the coming twelve months; and (3) perceptions about whether the present is a good time for making major purchases of durable goods such as homes, cars, furniture, and appliances. An index is also produced for each of these three components, to provide more detailed information on what is driving consumer sentiment. The CCI is intended to provide information on how consumer sentiment moves in the short term; therefore, it is usually analyzed on a month-over-month basis.
For March 2024, the national Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) stood at 44.8. This was an increase of 3.5 percent from 43.3 in February 2024 (see Figure 1) and was a continuation of the general upward trend in consumer sentiment seen over the past six months.
Click the following link to read more: Consumer Confidence Index, March 2024
