Results from the Statistical Institute of Belize’s most recent monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) survey showed that, as of March 2021, the All-Items CPI, which summarizes all categories of goods and services, stood at 102, up from 100.5 in March 2020. The country experienced an overall national inflation rate of 1.5 percent, reflecting the fact that, on average, prices for items comprising the basket of goods and services commonly purchased by Belizean households were 1.5 percent higher than they were in March of last year. This overall change was the net effect of higher costs for food items, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), home rentals and personal care products being partially offset by lower prices for hotel accommodations and men’s and women’s footwear. The year-to-date or cumulative inflation rate for the first three months of 2021, when compared to the first three months in 2020, stood at 1.3 percent.
Click the following link to read more: Consumer Price Index, March 2021
Merchandise Trade
During the month of March 2021, Belize’s imported goods were valued at $174.8 million, up by a marginal 0.4 percent or $0.7 million from the $174.1 million imported in March of 2020. Merchandise imports for the period January to March 2021 totaled $466.5 million, representing an 8 percent or $38.9 million decrease from the same period last year, when imports totaled $485.3 million.
Total domestic exports for March 2021 amounted to $33.7 million, up by 19.7 percent or $5.5 million from the $28.1 million recorded for March of 2020. Merchandise exports for the period January to March 2020 totaled $81.1 million, up 26.9 percent or $17.2 million from that same period last year, when total domestic exports were valued at $63.9 million.
Click the following link to read more: External Trade, March 2021
