Results from the Statistical Institute of Belize’s most recent monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) survey showed that, as of August 2021, the All-Items CPI, which summarizes all categories of goods and services, stood at 104.5, up from 100.6 in August 2020. The country experienced an overall national inflation rate of 3.9 percent, reflecting that, on average, prices for items comprising the basket of goods and services commonly purchased by Belizean households were 3.9 percent higher than they were in August of last year. This overall change resulted from higher costs for food, fuel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), restaurant services, and personal care products. The year-to-date or cumulative inflation rate for the first eight months of 2021, compared to the first eight months in 2020, stood at 2.4 percent.
Click the following link to read more: Consumer Price Index, August 2021
Merchandise Trade
During August 2021, Belize’s imported goods were valued at $190.4 million, up significantly by 32.5 percent or $46.7 million from the $143.7 million imported in August 2020. Merchandise imports for January to August 2021 totaled $1.3 billion, representing a 24.1 percent or $255.1 million increase from the same period last year when imports totaled $1.1 billion.
Total domestic exports for August 2021 amounted to $63.5 million, almost double that of August 2020, when total exports were valued at $32.1 million. Merchandise exports for January to August 2021 totaled $296.5 million, up 17.6 percent or $44.3 million from the same period last year, when total domestic exports were valued at $252.2 million.
Click the following link to read more: External Trade, August 2021
